New to bees.: Early September Hive Check

I checked my hive over Labor Day weekend. My friend Charles, who runs seven hives on his back porch, came over on Labor Day to give this rookie a hand.

We have extreme drought conditions this year in California, and there has been far less forage for honey bees and other pollinators. I wanted to see what the hive's pollen and honey stores were like, as the hive is getting ready for winter.

There were no full combs of capped honey as of this date. A few are a third to half full. Others have a mix of capped honey on top, and partial brood below. All of the capped brood cells are worker cells. Charles and I looked at every comb. We saw one lone drone in the whole hive. The boys have been kicked out, as the workers are preparing to over-winter. We did notice that a few of the capped worker cells had their covers torn off, exposing the developing pupae inside.

The queen is still there and she is laying eggs. We saw cells with eggs as well as others with developing larvae. Pollen stores are low, and this could be a concern over time.

Charles also pointed out that our hive has been visited by the Varroa Destructor mite, and that they have taken up residence in the hive. The varroa is like a tick. It sucks the blood out of adult bees, and can also be found in the cells of developing larvae. The varroa carries viruses with it. With their immune systems weakened, bees then succumb to these viruses.

Deformed Wing Virus is one of the viruses that is be transmitted by the mite. Honey bees with DWV have shriveled and deformed wings. I've observed six or seven bees with this condition. Charles also pointed out two adult worker bees that were carrying varroa mites on their backs. He also pointed out two or three worker bees whose coloring was paler than the rest. "These are sick bees", he said.

This could be a problem over time. Charles' comment to me was, "All hives have varroa. Your's doesn't look that bad. It's a little weak and your bees could store more pollen. We'll check how things are in two or three weeks. You may have to feed them over the winter."

Workers in a hygienic hive will get rid of the diseased pupae and bees with DWV. There were 10 discarded pupae on my landing board this morning, along with the bodies of nine or ten workers. I saw the same thing yesterday. Ants are having a field day on the dead and dying.

Here are a few pics of our hive. I planned to take pictures of each bar, but my battery died after I was a little more than half through.

Your's truly

Worker brood in the center, with capped honey.

Worker brood in the center with some capped honey.

Capped Worker Cells with some torn covers.

This is comb that was used for Drone cells. The cells are larger than worker cells. Notice that they are all empty. The drones were expelled. We put this toward the back of the hive, as the queen will not lay worker eggs in drone cells