Mold in a Dead Hive- A Beautiful World

My first hive of the year just went crashing down, and there are at least rwo right behind it, ready to go, but not quite yet. The main question is whether or not they are going to be followed by any others, and I went through all of them this past weekend, to try to get a handle on it. But its hard to tell, I have a special top that lets me open up a feeding area, where some hives have clustered en mass- but others might still be down inside the hive. So I can't tell yet just by looking- but some are strong, and some, seem weak, just a few bees at top. 

I also scrape out the hives at the bottom. If a hive is weak, it can't haul out dead bees, and so they pack up. A strong hive might also be undergoing high losses,  but since they pull them out, you miss it- except they might be strewn out front. Sometimes I see it, sometimes not- and of course, if a hive is in the grass, you can't see it at all. So what I find is that its somewhat unpredictable- and the only way to tell is to pop open the hive as often as the weather permits.

If I find one going south- its also not as if I can stop anything. Its more about the recording of it- and knowing if there is a disease, and if it is moving. Or - a condition-  like due to weather maybe - if ts happening at the same time in hives that are far apart. 

What has been surprising is to know that hive death comes sooner than I used to think- and I didn't think so before, as I didn't think to look. In fact, even now, I can glide along thinking an apiary of hives is fine, seeing a lot of bees, or a few bees, coming out of the hive, and thinking that its OK. Which, without looking, one has no idea of. 

The point of this post is to show a bunch of photos that have a lot to do with death, but little to do with cause. In my post mortem, at this point, I can't really tell what killed the hive. Mites seem minor- and in the past I have seen plenty of  mites in every dead brood cell- but this hive has none (so far).

But here is what I found- an incredible universe of what I think is mold. Simply put. A larva dies, for whatever reason (cold? virus? fungus?), and then it molds up. Black dots, wires, an explosion of life. I thought it was a the source of why they died- but I am pretty sure, this is what happens to fluids, in their bodies, or ours (? I don't know), after death. Just a guess, but its quite something to see.

A microscope it an amazing thing and I am glad to have one!

A typical cap in this hive- chewed a little open.

Here is the larva pulled out. I sampled the back spots for the images below.