Frame Guide › Pests & poisoning
Pesticide Poisoning: what it looks like on the frame
A field next door was sprayed in bloom yesterday. Piles of dead bees out front today.
Good brood and full stores, but dead bees lying on the comb, many with their tongues sticking out — and it happened overnight, right after a spray. Starved bees die head-down in cells in a colony with no food. Varroa takes weeks, and old foragers die in the field, not in a heap at home.
Photograph it, freeze a sample of dead bees, and report it
A report is what gets it investigated — in Pennsylvania that's the Department of Agriculture. Bag and freeze a cup or so of fresh dead bees and note the date, the time, and what was sprayed nearby. Talking to the grower or applicator helps too: most would rather spray in the evening than kill a neighbour's bees.
Easy to mistake for
- Starved ColonyLate March · they were flying in December. Now, silence.
- Varroa Mites & Deformed Wing VirusAugust · your alcohol wash came back at 9 mites per 100 bees.
Could you spot this with the lid off?
Read the Frame deals you 8 random frames. Say what you see, say what you'd do, and find out why. It's free and runs on your phone.
Drill pests & poisoning → Mixed round (all 32 frames) →More pests & poisoning
- Varroa Mites & Deformed Wing VirusAugust · your alcohol wash came back at 9 mites per 100 bees.
- Wax Moth DamageThe outside frames of a colony that's been dwindling for a month.
- Small Hive Beetle Slime-OutHot, humid August. The box smells fermented, like rotting oranges.
- RobbingLate August dearth. Bees wrestling on the landing board.
- Bald BroodJune · a good colony, but these lines of open cells caught your eye.
- Healthy Colony, Low Mite CountLate June · an alcohol wash of 300 bees turned up 2 mites.
These frames are drawn to teach the pattern, and real frames vary. If you suspect foulbrood or a pesticide kill, contact your state apiarist. In Pennsylvania that's the PA Department of Agriculture apiary program. Samples to the USDA Beltsville Bee Lab are free. From The Alleman Apiary in Middletown, PA.