Went out to the farm to check up on the hives out there. One had very few bees flying in and out contrary to the others. I went in expecting bad and it was. I left them a lot of their own honey to over winter and there was lots still there. Going from top to bottom there was lots of honey some had been in process of being eaten and some still was by the only 4 or 5 bees still residing in the hive. Throughout the entire hive there was no cluster of bees, no brood or larva at all. Except for the frames with honey it was just empty drawn comb. In the box 2nd up from the bottom there was a nest of a small rodent of some kind adult still there and babies.
Already that or a rodent had been building nest inside that hive bringing nest material in and making a mess since last fall, and up in the top strangely. Of course I removed the nest material best I could and it made a mess because lots of it just fell down through the hive as I attempted to remove it. Even then I couldn't understand why the bees didn't kill it. Now this.
I know there has been documented cases that a mouse or some small rodent had gotten inside a hive and the bees killed it and then propalized the carcass because they couldn't get it out. Why my bees didn't do that and let that rodent run them out of their home is beyond me