We aren’t doing very good at this whole beekeeping thing. We checked our hive just over a week ago. They showed some signs of mite issues, but otherwise were laying a lot of brood and had a decent looking population. Today they are nearly all gone. I bagged and sealed up the frames and left them in the yard. We are having some pretty harsh sun which should kill the small hive beetle larva and other nasties that were starting to take hold.
I am very seriously considering getting rid of these frames and starting over again. It is horrible to see, but below is a picture of one of the brood frames. Poor little girls.
Kilted Craft Works 
Sorry to hear and see this, Chase. You and Monica have put a lot of work into the bees. Would hive boxes themselves need to be “fumigated” somehow also? The guys in Mims might have some good thoughts on this. Bless the bees and children! Rosemary
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this is not the look of “mite problems”, did anyone have an exterminator in your neighborhood recently? or are you near apple farms that might have sprayed their trees? Absconding bees usually wait until all of the brood have hatched, sick bees usually have dead bees in the bottom of the hive, this looks like the adults all went out and didn’t come back.
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Perhaps. I live in a fairly suburban type area. There are no apple farms in Florida as far as I know, and no other agriculture within miles of my house that I am aware of. I agree that they all left and didn’t come back. I have a local bee meeting coming up, maybe someone nearby had the same issue. I will ask.
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I agree, doesn’t look like mites. You might want to contact your local bee association. And, no, I wouldn’t use the frames until you are certain what went wrong….Good luck and don’t get discouraged!
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