empty hive (revised)

[rober]

i have 4 hives together on rack. they have been doing fine. one with an illinois queen though never quite built up like they should have. yesterday i took a peek inside those hives & the illinois queened hive was abandoned. plenty of honey & no signs of robbing. no queen. no piles of dead bees on the bottom board. there was a small cluster of 20 barely alive bees. i'm breaking down the hive & freezing the frames tomorrow. i put the remaining bees in an alcohol bath. there were 18 mites on 24 bees. there were no deformed wings & no signs of chalkbrood or foulbrood. any ideas out there??

[T Beek]

its not uncommon for bees housed close together, that a 'weak' colony will loose bees to stronger colonies.  Drifting is more common when hives are place together IMO.