I have had a hive - just 1 - for 3 years. It was going well, langstroth, 2 strong broodboxes, with a honey box on top so they could gather supplies for the winter, after I harvested the manuka and kanuka frames at New Year.. They were varroa-treated with strips.
I had a plastic container with 5 frames of honey waiting to be extracted in a nearby shed. The container got knocked, leaving a corner of the lid up. Over a week my bees removed all the honey and returned it to their hive.
It appears other bees also joined this raiding, and when the supply finished turned to my hive. I was ill during that week, and recovered to find my bees were no longer there, and every bit of honey, brood, everything was gone. There were very few dead bees in the hive boxes, and none on the ground outside - unlike the battle-scenes of previous robbing we had.
But when I dismantled the hive I found 2 brood frames in the bottom box, centrally placed, had about 10cm long area of of melted plastic at their base, deformed about 3cm up into the frame. Yet the frames on either side had no such melting.
I have not used any equipment or substance that could melt plastic. The plastic sheet I had slid in beneath the base grill was not marked. The frames were not like that when I put them there. What on earth could have caused this?
I had a plastic container with 5 frames of honey waiting to be extracted in a nearby shed. The container got knocked, leaving a corner of the lid up. Over a week my bees removed all the honey and returned it to their hive.
It appears other bees also joined this raiding, and when the supply finished turned to my hive. I was ill during that week, and recovered to find my bees were no longer there, and every bit of honey, brood, everything was gone. There were very few dead bees in the hive boxes, and none on the ground outside - unlike the battle-scenes of previous robbing we had.
But when I dismantled the hive I found 2 brood frames in the bottom box, centrally placed, had about 10cm long area of of melted plastic at their base, deformed about 3cm up into the frame. Yet the frames on either side had no such melting.
I have not used any equipment or substance that could melt plastic. The plastic sheet I had slid in beneath the base grill was not marked. The frames were not like that when I put them there. What on earth could have caused this?