Uh oh! We have a problem. The bees have been able to get out for "potty breaks" for the last 2-3 weeks and I've seen a lot of yellow snow and brown splotches around and on the hives. There's a lot more of the bee poo on Cam's hive (dark brown) over the last two days for some reason. I took a peek under the cover today and was unpleasantly surprised to see more droppings on the inside of the hive as well as an icky stinky smell. Yuck! Maybe my beginner's luck just ran out. It sounds like Cam's hive has dysentery. I'm not sure if it'll need some medication or if I can sit tight and hope that they shake it off. Wish me luck. I'll be doing a lot of research on this problem and watching the hive like a hawk over the next few weeks.
The good news is that Toby's hive seems to be doing fine. No poop sauce! Maybe a little less honey than Cam's but I have frames in the honey bank if I need it. It's still almost 100lbs though. I did give Toby's hive pollen patties and HBH last fall (because of the supersedure) so now I'm wondering if that did something to prevent the dysentery. It sure feels like I'm still on the steep part of the learning curve here.
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