More than one Queen

[Maree W]

I took out the varroa strips from my hive today, and had a check.  The frames in the bottom box were very mouldy, so I have removed them, leaving the box empty.  Built a stand to elevate the hive about 30cm also, hopefully this will improve airflow and ventilation.  Second box is looking good, lots of bees and honey and new brood. Bees are still very active.

However, when I was moving the boxes, I found a queen above the queen excluder.  I put her back down into the brood box.  I then found two more queens as well.

Is this something I should be concerned about, or will they sort it out for themselves? God knows if there are any more queens in there!

[Maree W]

Thanks for your advice Gary.

I have done as you suggested.  The hive was looking great until just this week, I noticed a lot of dead bees at the entrance.  I opened it up today for an inspection, and there is a pile of dead bees on the bottom.  

Would they be suffering from starvation?  I have had a good look and can see no signs of disease that I can see. There is not much honey left in the hive, although they a foraging well when the weather permits, I have lots in flower at the moment. One box is full of bees on the frames, so although lots of dead, there are still many many living bees.

If they are starving, should I feed them or will this only stimulate them to produce brood that is not sustainable at this time?

Thanks for your help.

Maree