yellow chucks or wax at front door

[hardtime]

went to look at my bees today  thay are at a frends  house  .aint look at them in about three mounths .today went by  seen yellow chuncks of  wax at front door  from one side to the other and on ground it was alot i think  .what do yall think this could be .what is going  on in that hive        .from  bobby  in va.

[JP]

It sounds like robbing, you need to check them. Good luck.


...JP

[BjornBee]

It sounds like robbing, you need to check them. Good luck.


...JP

I agree. Probably a dead hive also.

[Scadsobees]

If you got chunks, then it sounds like you got mice.

[BjornBee]

We went from robbing, to a dead hive, to having mice.....anyone else want to add anything... 

[Scadsobees]

I see lots of wax scrapings and particles from robbing.  The only time that I've seen "chunks" is from mice tearing apart the wax to get the pollen out.

Now I've not ever seen a yellow "Chuck" anywhere near a hive....

[BjornBee]

Ok, so we have robbing, a dead hive, mice, and now some guys called "chuck" hanging around the entrance. 

[hardtime]

well it might be scrapings  and particles.. looks to me like  some of the bees were draging the wax out the front and thowing it out the front of the hive.the wax was about half the size of the bees .i did not see any robbing. just two hives in that place  side by side  so i could see if it was  robbing i think.  this are half  russian  bees     any more help?

[BjornBee]

Can a mouse get in your hives? Do you have mouse guards or screen in place?

Many times, a mouse will enter in cold weather and eat away at the bottom frames of comb, as the bees are clustered. They just leave as the bees get more active or when they are done eating. (Some mice will nest even in hives active and are protected by the nest.

I bet you have some missing wax comb on those lower frames.

[Shawn]

Did you open the hive? What did the inside look like?

[hardtime]

opened hive today  die out .mouse tour  the inside all to peaces .this hive went out in a hurry  just  look in on them in sept. and all was well then.  time to move on .. 

[kathyp]

i observed same in observation hive when the bees tore into stores.  not a lot and in an outdoor hive i probably wouldn't have noticed.  have you had a warm up that would cause them to be more active and hungry?

ah...bummer.  didn't read all the way to the bottom before posting above.  mice are naughty critters.  i get them between the screen and slide in board of my SBBs.