HIVE BEETLES KILLED LAST HIVE

Rest in peace my girls . . .

Well, it finally happened.  I lost the last hive I had.  It was weak anyways, and ultimately didn’t make a queen in time to make babies and store enough honey.  But to add insult to injury, the robber bees that ended up dealing the last blow were probably from a previous hive of mine that had swarmed.  Big, healthy bees that came back to get the last honey.

HOWEVER, all is not totally lost, because I’ve read that hive beetles can’t survive outside the hive in the winter.  That they need the warmth of a huddle of bees to keep them warm.  So, anyone know anything about this last bastion?  If it’s true, then possibly my bees didn’t die in vain.  Possibly when I get my new order of Russians, they will be able to start new without any outside varmints to eat them alive . . . We will see.