Valentinium Requiescat in Pace

Today I took apart the Valentinium. There were so few bees in it and so much uncapped nectar that I was beginning to think it had suffered from the Mary Celeste Syndrome, i.e., colony collapse disorder. Then I eventually came across a small cluster of about 100 dead bees, including the marked (marked!) queen. There was no sign of disease, nor brood of any kind.