In this online workshop we will discuss how to conduct a hive necropsy to determine why a colony died. Determining why a colony dies is very important beekeeping activity, so that we are able to learn from the experience. “Those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it”! In the first part, we will examine photos from previous dead-outs and discuss the clues that can help us reach a conclusion. Then in the second part, we will conduct actual necropsies and dissect colonies that died this past Winter. We will start by looking at the colony’s origin, history and inspection notes to see if they offer any insight and then we will look at the hive frame-by-frame to see if we can determine why it failed to survive. Finally, we will discuss what lessons might be learned from our conclusions and whether they call for modifications in future beekeeping husbandry that might decrease the probability of it happening again.

There may be an in-person companion class for this.