Guilfordbeekeepers.org

Three weeks ago I had what must have been a chemical kill. One of my very strong hives had about two thousand dead bees in front of the hive including the queen. I put a new queen in a week later. The hive is now very strong and queen is laying well. I now have two supers full of capped honey. Question? Is it safe to harvest the honey to eat??

This is my opinion. The honey is unlikely to harm the bees. Those that died probably died before depositing nectar in cells for storage. If the stuff was lethal enough to kill quickly, the queen and house bees may have died by ingesting it. The nectar that had been cured as capped honey was probably in place well before the possible poisoning. The fact that you have successfully introduced a new queen and have a living colony would indicate sublethal amounts of whatever may have been the problem.

If I remember the presentation from several years back by the beekeeper/lab researcher from the USDA correctly, their tests showed that pesticides/fungicides were very high in pollen samples, built up in wax as it absorbed some, and incredibly small (way below acceptable levels) amounts could be detected in honey.

It would have been good to have given Don Hopkins a call and see about collecting samples for either testing or reporting potential kills to the right agencies. You may have gotten answers about whether there was anything to be concerned about as far as human consumption goes.

I have had the same thing happen. I guess I did not respond quickly enough, and when I went into the hive Saturday, there weren't 100 bees in it. Had to be some type of chemical.

Anyone got packages of bees available now?

I could let you have a nuc, but I don't know of anyone with packages. 302-2708

in the wanted for sale section this was listed on Friday, but I'd snag Wally's if I needed any
Nobody I know of with packages in T'ville

I still have two med nucs for sale. You can call me @
3363274898
Or
email at bee.local.apiaries at gmail dot com

I'm not sure what they would have gotten into. Did you have other hives nearby that were not affected? If this was a new hive or hive beetle larvae infested they could have absconded and the 100 bees were the field bees that were out when the others left?

At this time a nuc would be much better than a package. They are plenty available now I would think. I plan to sell a few before long but the two mentioned above would be closer to you.

There is another hive next to it, but it was put in after the dead bees were found, so no effect on the new one.

Wally, I am out of town this week, but will call you this weekend of that is okay. Thanks

Any time........................

After the chemical kill I collected and sent a number of the dead bees to The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to be analyzed. I have no idea how long that will take for the results. It was the only hive that had the problem. There are hives on either side of the effected hive. The new queen is doing a great job. The hive has now built back up and is very strong with a lot of eggs, larvae and brood.
I do remember the presentation by the beekeeper/lab researcher from the USDA showed that pesticides/fungicides were very high in pollen samples, built up in wax as it absorbed some, and incredibly small (way below acceptable levels) amounts could be detected in honey. (Thanks for that Jacobs.)

As for the OP, I would guess sevin dust on a local garden. Only that hive found it. There may be more as summer goes on.