Do you treat for mites? If the colony is so weakened by mites through the winter, there won't be many left to find early pollen/nectar, so the colony doesn't get out the gate in the spring.

Other scenarios: Old queen? Dead queen? Or maybe different things each spring.

Foul brood is 1)rare anymore and 2) distinctive in the foul odor of the dead brood. If you don't have lots of dead brood, I'd look elsewhere for an answer rather than Am. Foulbrood.

Kentucky has a bee inspector? Your local County Extension Service (listed under USDA in the phonebook) could probably provide you with more info as to where the inspector can be contacted. Good luck. Maybe somebody will come up with an answer for you.

Foul brood is NOT rare. It's largely supressed by those who keep applying terrmycin, but it's not rare and it's not to be underestimated.

However describing a hive on this forum is not the way to diagnose why your bees keep dying. In fact, it's downright irresponsible.

Are you aware that the USDA will do free forensics on your bees and comb? Follow instructions in the attached link... precisely. And you'll get results in a week or so.

Here is a link that might be useful: how to submit for free testing

This is what one pretty good site had to say about Am. Foulbrood:

Foulbrood
Until recently, American foulbrood (AFB) was the worst problem bees and their keepers had to face. It is a bacterial infection of the brood that turns developing pupa into a slimy sticky smelly brown mess. For many years the only cure was to kill the colony and burn the infected equipment. Ten years ago most states still had money to conduct routine hive inspections, and routinely condemned AFB infected hives to be destroyed. State budgets have dried up since then and very little inspecting is done.

In recent years, selective breeding for resistance has reduced both American foulbrood and it's less dangerous cousin, European foulbrood, to the point that they are uncommon and sometimes even treatable nuicances. With routine preventive application of terramycin (see Grease) and disease resistant stock, these bacterial infections rarely occur in many parts of the country. I think it's mildly interesting that as government intervention has dried up, so has this problem. Hmmm. Undoubtedly you will label me based on the preceding statement. Oh well.

It doesn't matter how rare or common it is, I would take advantage of the USDA service, and in the meantime I would call the Extension Service too. I can say that I have only one time in 20+yrs. of beekeeping seen/smelled foulbrood.

What do you mean, "I take apart my frames a notice a clump of dead bees"? Describe this a little more...the bees are on the comb? are the bees head down into the cells? My inclination is to agree with PA Pete; on the surface it sounds like they're probably stressed (perhaps by mites, especially if you're not treating for them) and then they starve. It doesn't matter if you have honey in the hive; if the temps are cold to such a degree that the cluster can't move to the honey stores then they will starve. Colonies (clusters) have been known to starve when honey is only a couple of inches away. And it's been my experience that mid to late Spring is the most likely time for bees to starve. And if you're seeing them 'head down' into the cells, that's exactly what's happening.
I'd recommend you do at least two things differently: 1) check for mites and treat for them if need be and 2) leave more honey on the hive to overwinter. These two "fixes" would at least address the most probable causes for your problem.

Could it be genetically engineered crops that are killing honey bees? Let's think about what's happening to them logically. I don't claim to be an expert, just a lay man, but I read the news and here's what I think.

It's my understanding that the die off really started about 6 to 8 years ago, maybe a bit longer, and has increased exponentially in the last few years. Apparently honey bees are falling victim to natural predators and are severely weakened overall. Pesticides and other environmental toxins could be to blame but there have been pesticides around for some time. We must ask then, what is new to the equation? We should also ask, if bees are being imported from Austriala to take the place of native bees, why hasn't Austraila and other countries been effected?

This would suggest that as opposed to something global, the problem must lie in something local, something uniquely north american. Now, I dont know for a fact, but judging from the response in Europe to genetically modified crops, I'd bet that Austriala probably doesn't widely use genetically modified crops either.

Now, it's also my understanding that these genetically modified crops can include pesticides right in the genetic material, to naturally ward off predators. I also understand that it's possible for genetically modified crops to spread their dna into other plant life and other non modified crops via pollen and other ways beyond my limited understanding.

Isn't it possible that the low levels of pesticide in genetically modified crops could be weakening the bees immune systems somehow, in ways that scientists behind these gene modifications couldn't have predicted?

I'd be willing to bet that if you looked at a chart, you'd see that genetically modified crops have grown in scope about at the same exponential rate that the bee deaths have been occuring. The levels of whatever is harmful in these genetically modified crops may not be enough to outright kill bees, thus scientists wouldn't have picked up on the problem, but it would be enough to weaken an individual bees immune system over time so that eventually the bee cannot cope with natural predators.

The bee would basically constantly have a cold because it can't deal with whatever new genetic material exists in the pollen it's harvesting from the crops.

Therefore, healthy bees brought from Austrialia will eventually get sick and die too, and if genetically modified crops spread to other areas of the world in the same broad scope we have embraced them here in the States, then you'll see a dying out of bees there too.

Now, another interesting question to ask is, what's happening to other pollenators like butterflies? Are they dying out too? Is it more gradual becuase maybe butterflies have tougher immune systems or has nobody even bothered to pay enough attention to tell?

Just by watching discovery channel I've figured out that genetically changed material can spread beyond the original target crops. Is it possible that it's spread to what farmers and scientists thought were "organic" crops and nobody has even noticed, except of course the bees getting sick and dying?

It would be interesting to learn if bees were getting sicker or dying out more in areas that contain genetically modified crops. Frankly, I'm surprised nobody on the net really seems to have picked up on this connection yet.

It would be ironic if that in our efforts to improve crop yield by using genetically modified plant dna, we sealed our fate by getting rid of the pollenators we need to have those crops survive.

It would be especially ironic if the genetic material potentially killing these bees has spread beyond control and has now severly contaminated the environment in ways that cannot be contained. What that would mean very shortly s a very different way of life without many of the things that make life so beautiful, like busy little bees.

I really know very little on this subject, I'm just bringing it up for discussion. I hope people a lot smarter than I am pick the subject up and investigate further.

L

Oh, my God. I was thinking the same thing. I am not a scientist, but I am alarmed at the lack of bees in my front yard. I just read on a website about some scientists thinking that GM foods may be to blame along with the pesticides we are using. I have a feeling it's true. When I go grocery shopping and see the signs that say "no pesticide residue", I get scared. Well, you know the stuff isn't organic. So if the pesticide isn't on the outside, then guess what " it's on the inside". You don't think the stores wash the fruit, do you? We're really messing with nature here. What does this do to babies developing int he womb when mom eats genetically altered food? Also, it is possible that the bees are searching the fields for something it recognizes and does not recognize this GM food. So, it dies. So, what now? Do we genetically alter the bees? I'm nervous here. Any scientists out there. I would love to get involved with a campaign to stop the growing of these GM crops.

It's highly unlikely it has anything to do with crops unless they are sprayed with insecticides while the bees are working them. It is quite likely that varroa mites are the culprit. The next most probable cause is starvation because they don't have enough feed when brood rearing starts. The darkening of frames and comb is natural over time.