CCD equipment

[danno]

I helped a friend get started with 3- 3# packages on all new equipment the end of April.   I talked him out of nuc's just for the reason of bringing in disease.  Everything has been going great until last week.  One colony suddenly dwindled and died.  Although I have not been out there to look things over he claims in the very end all that was left was a small cluster of bee's with the queen.   Although I have lost to many to think about in our Michigan winters and have lost them to queen failure and mites in the summer, this is new territory for me.  Tonight I am heading out there to look it over but really dont know what to tell him about his empty equipment.   I do know what FB looks like and if I suspect anything like it I will break out the matches 

[AliciaH]

What is the food situation in the hives?  Are there dead bees?  Are their little tongues sticking out?  A situation for me, being in Western WA, is that even though there is nectar available, the weather here has been bad enough that the bees weren't flying.  I almost lost a hive that had lots of pollen, but had consumed their nectar stores.  This hive, too, had a huge drop in bees, within days.  I got syrup back on right away and now they are back to business.

Anyway, just a consideration.  Good luck!

[danno]

There are very few dead bee's.   They did not starve.   There is brood in all stages and no bee's to cover it.   The queen seemed to have done her job well.  This is not a pesticide issue.    This is a 2+ month old colony so it is not mites.  We have had pretty good weather this year.  My 30+ colonies are all doing great and the best is yet to come.  A couple of weeks ago this colony seemed to be doing very well just like the 2 next to it that still are.  The symtoms are classic CCD.   Now back to my question.  What should I tell him about his equipment?