dying bees

Could it be they are starting to clean house of the unproductive workers with winter around the corner?

I did get into that hive this last Monday. Everything looks fine. A laying queen. Plenty of bees.
I will try to get photos.

Thanks
Helma

Helma,

It's hard to give an reasonable assessment without seeing them. The intact wings is a good sign.
The best suggestion would be to get inside to take a look or if you could provide a few photos that would be even better


Scott

The bees do not look any different than the rest of the bees, wings are intact. Few drone mostly worker bees. Besides many dead, there are also many moving around on the grass in front of the hive. I had several that were alive on their backs, when I flipped them over onto their feet they would flip right over on their backs again.

The other four hives are fine, normal amount of dead bees in front of their hives.

Helma,

Do you know if the dead bees are workers or drones?

Could you describe the physical appearance of the dead bee? Is it intact? What do the wings look like?
Does it look fully formed? Are there any unusual colors?

Approximately how many is a "large pile"?

Try to get a few photos to post. This will help
Scott

This problem with the dying bees has been going on since before 8/11/13 , a date I remember because that was when one of my hives swarmed. I still see bees getting dragged out so there must still be a problem with some robbing. I do have an entrance reducer in place. I was using a robbing screen but it would be covered with bees. I did sprinkle confectioners sugar on all five hive a week ago. I had not seen evidence of mite when using a sticky board until last weekend, the most from my strongest hive.

Thanks for your input

I'm still pretty new to this as well(going on year #3 now), so hopefully some experts chime in... That said, have you checked on the brood for signs of what the problem might be? Last year I didn't treat for mites which resulted in some dead bees out front and two very weak hives that didn't survive the winter. If you don't have a screened bottom board, then a sugar shake (there are some good youtube videos on this) is another good way to check on the mite population. Really it could be a number of things though. Another thing to check is if there is any/enough honey in the lower supers. I know we had a real dry spell of nector last month before the goldenrod started to bloom, but I'm sure this varies a lot depending on where you live. I hope this helps.