Hive Loss

It's recommended to get at least 2 bee hives so you can compare your hives and I'm so glad we did. From the very beginning Hive #1 was MUCH slower to grow and get going. We saw the queen every time we did a check and did see capped brood and honey, but they were so much smaller than Hive #2. In July we noticed more ants trying to get into Hive #1 - at first between the lid and the inner cover. I started thinking they might be building a nest in the cinder block base (we had the holes facing up). We were in the process of getting a new hive base (something with metal legs) when we checked the hives on July 15 and Hive #1 was gone and the ants were trying to take over the hive. It was so devastating, even though I didn't think this hive would make it through winter because it was so small. What I read online and from talking to other beekeepers is that if the bees can't fight off a threat they will often abscond and just leave the hive. I think that's what happened. We did see some dead bees who had tried to fight off the ants. It's hard, but just another learning curve in our beekeeping! Goodbye Hive #1.

The queen in Hive #1.