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There are dead bees on my inner cover! Is the colony dying?

No, when it is too wet or cold (or both!) for the undertaker (mortician) bees to fly the dead bees out of the hive, they sometimes move the corpses up onto the inner cover. After all, that does remove the dead from the colony's living space. Beekeepers may discover this temporary "graveyard" when lifting the outer cover to check feed, perhaps to place it on the inner coverto avoid further disturbing the colony.
No, when it is too wet or cold (or both!) for the undertaker (mortician) bees to fly the dead bees out of the hive, they sometimes move the corpses up onto the inner cover. After all, that does remove the dead from the colony's living space. Beekeepers may discover this temporary "graveyard" when lifting the outer cover to check feed, perhaps to place it on the inner coverto avoid further disturbing the colony.

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