When is it Time to Give Up on a Hive?

Giving up on a hive is very hard to do. Anyone besides me inspired to hum "Breaking up is hard to do" by Neil Sedaka? 

Reality is that all beekeepers, even the best, lose hives—and a lot of them. The average annual loss rate fluctuates between 40% and 50%. It’s one thing when a hive dies on its own, but it’s much harder when you have to make the decision to stop pouring efforts and resources into a hive that isn’t going to ultimately make it.

Here are some guidelines to follow when trying to decide if you should give up on a hive. 

1. You are heading into winter, daytime temperatures will be steadily below 60 degrees in four weeks, and your hive has fewer than four frames of bees. With no hope of growth, four frames or fewer of bees will typically result in a hive that won’t survive winter. You certainly would not want to waste money on feed, treatments, and more on a hive of this strength at this time of year. If they are a solid three or four frames of bees and have a few good frames of brood, you could combine them with another hive or shrink them down into a five-frame nuc box. If they are one or two frames of bees or brood, it’s extremely unlikely they will survive. The exception to this could be if you live in southern Florida, where bees can actually grow over the winter. 
2. Your hive is weak (less than a half deep box full of bees) and is a drone layer. It’s already very difficult to save a drone-laying hive, much less one that is weak. Shake out the bees and use the comb to make a split or catch a swarm. Watch “Are Drone Layers Worth Saving?.”
3. Your hive is queenless, mostly broodless, and fewer than three frames of bees. These hives are really hard to save and not usually worth the investment of a new queen. 
4. Your hive is weak and has a severe Varroa infestation. If you are in that three- to four-frames-of-bees range and have a Varroa mite level over 15 mites per 100 bees, the odds that the hive will survive are very slim. In this case, unfortunately, you’ll want to kill the hive so the bees don’t spread Varroa to the rest of your hives. See “Disposing of an Overly Aggressive Hive.” 
5. If the hive is disease free and doesn’t have high Varroa levels, you can combine it with another hive.