I finally have time for a blog! Sorry to have been away so long.
I am afraid that my news is not good news.
At the end of September, both hives were doing great. Lots of honey and healthy queens...Olivia still had 2 queens but all seemed to be well. We had found piles of dead bees in both hives a couple of times throughout August and September but I decided that the wet summer we were having was the cause of that. I put them to bed feeling confidant.
In mid-October we had a sunny cold day but I didn't see any activity at either hive so I went in. Queen Mab had a cluster of dead bees covering 4 frames with a lot of honey around her. Queen Olivia was exactly the same story. Quite likely, the cause of the bee kills wasn't too much moisture but herbicides at the train yard across the street. The bees just couldn't sustain themselves once they were confined in the hive. The train yard had been cleaned up this summer in honour of the LPGA Tournament being hosted by CP Rail here in London. It was quite a coup for London to have this international event here.
Moral of this story? Be careful what you wish for! The train yard had new fences put up, beautiful blue spruces planted and wide swaths of grass laid. There was not a weed to be seen. We were so excited by the "improvements"! Now we know what we lost for the next little while--healthy herbicide free wild flower forage for the bees. Give the train yard a year and the golden rod, asters and daisies will be back.
I will be sending samples of the bees to the inspectors as soon as spring comes to find out for sure what happened. Sorry for the sad story! Onwards!
