Went to inspect hives on our first 70-degree day today. Started about 4pm. Hive #2 is dead. Hive #1 has a lot of activity.
Pussy willow tree is blooming as are maples.
Pulled frames from Hive #2 and it appears that they still had plenty of food in there. Noted a number of mites on bees and on comb. Had to do some reading, but I believe the flaky debris in the cells in the comb is Varroa mite fecal matter. There are also cells with what looks like a white, dried, granular sugar slurry. Not sure what this is.
The bottom box (deep) in Hive #2 also had some weird stuff in it. I think the deep yellow stuff is just leftover pollen, but I’m not sure what this brownish-gray slimy stuff is. There is also some bright white slimy stuff in another sealed brood/larva cell.
The bottom board was just plastered with dead bees. The pile of bees has what looks like pieces of pollen all over too.
Hive #1 looks like it’s doing really well. Lots of activity at the front door and inside the inner cover bees are crawling all over the frames and look healthy. I didn’t get any pictures of that hive other than the outside.
