When to Give Up on a Hive
You've worked hard, spent money, and maybe made a bit of honey, but now your hive looks terrible. There aren't many bees, the wax moths are starting to move in, and robber bees are stealing what honey is left. When is it time to give up on a hive instead of trying to save it?
The graph below is designed to help you with that decision. Whether a hive is worth saving depends a bit on the time of year and the history of the hive. As you can see from the chart, a hive with three frames of bees going into winter has virtually no chance of survival. However, a hive with three frames of bees in early spring has a decent shot at survival.
At any time of year, consider these critical elements when deciding whether a hive is worth saving:
- Is my queen healthy, young, and laying well? If your queen is a year or more old, has a poor brood pattern, and isn't laying much when seasonally she should be—it's going to be tough to save a hive that's already weak.
- How long has your hive been weak? What's the history of the hive? If you split two weeks ago, then give them some time to grow. But if they've been at two to three frames of bees for months, something is clearly wrong and it's time to combine them.
- Are Varroa mite levels low? If mite levels are high, hives will struggle to grow.
A Hive Not Worth Saving
You've determined your hive isn't worth saving. Now what?
You essentially have two options.
- Combine your weak hive with a stronger hive. Sometimes combining a hive with a stronger hive makes more sense than continuing to nurse it along to no avail. Here is an article that details the process: How to Combine Hives
- Dispose of the hive and save the comb. If your hive has very little to no brood and only a few frames of bees and winter is approaching, or if your hive has a high mite load, it is better to dispose of the hive and store the comb than combine it with a stronger hive and risk spreading mites and disease.
To dispose of the hive, the best thing to do is remove the bottom board and cover one evening, put the deep box in a trash bag, and place it in a freezer for one day. This will kill the bees and any wax moth or small hive beetle eggs or larvae. Then, shake the dead bees out of the comb and store the comb in wax moth crystals. You can reuse the comb to start a new hive next year.
Preserving the comb is critical, as it is one of the most valuable aspects of the hive. Starting over next year will be much easier and faster with drawn comb!
It is always disappointing and frustrating to lose bees, but the national average loss rate is around 50% even for commercial beekeepers. Learn from your mistakes and try again!