Bad news from the beeyard.
My bee buddy came over today to help me check them out for the Spring. It looked promising with all the activity but looks are deceiving. As soon as we pulled the top cover we saw a mass of dead bees. Not just dead but wet and mildewing. The bottom box was fine but the top was filled with dead, moldy bees. Some had died head first in the comb looking for food.
I had two problems. One was that some bees separated from the cluster to find food but then the temparatures dropped and they died. The second problem and by far the worst was the moisture. Do not make the mistake that Winter means they need to be sealed tight to stay warm.

The worst news of all was the absence of brood cells (baby bees) and the complete absence of a Queen.

Now if I have taught you anything this past year it is that a hive cannot survive without a Queen. If there was brood I could get a new Queen and she would be taken care of by the hatching bees. Without any brood, the bees I have now probably won't live long enough to help the Queen. I could take the gamble but I don't think I want to. I need to get new bees. A package would be like starting over and is impossible to find at this point anyway. Most people are sold out. The option I am going for is to get a Nuc. A Nuc is frames of already drawn out comb with eggs and brood in them and with the Queen. You get them and put them into your current hive and they hopefully get going right away.
So I spent the morning calling all over New Hampshire and Mass. looking for available Nucs. Some are sold out and a lot of people weren't home. Keep your fingers crossed for success. Meanwhile I am feeding the remaining bees 2:1 sugar syrup (2 lbs. of sugar dissolved in 1 pint of water) to maybe keep them alive until I figure this out.
The irony is that I was so worried about parasites attacking my hive. Looks like I was my own worst enemy. But this is what learning is all about. If beekeeping was easy, everyone would do it.