Black Powder on Varroa Tray

[davidharradine]

Hello

I did a mite drop count over the weekend (hardly any - very pleased) but was very surprised to see quite a lot of dead brood (about 40 larvae) on the tray under one of the hives. There's been a little bit of chalkbrood in this hive, which I hadn't been worried about as I always get a little at this time of year and it always clears up as soon as the weather gets warmer. The dead brood looked chalky, but also had a black powder, possibly black mould, along the sides of the larvae. There was also a lot of this black powder on the insert tray.

The larva are much bigger than the gaps in the mesh above the tray, so the bees must have put them there. Very odd.

Any idea what this might be?

Thanks, David

 

[drstitson]

what you're seeing is the actual spore producing part of the fungus (think about the mould on bread).

http://cyberbee.net/gallery/index.php/Disease-and-Pests/chalkbrood/chalkbrood_spore

 

[davemacdon]

Seems like you have the more advanced Chalk Brood

 

[davidharradine]

:-( oh bugger.

I'll do some research but can anyone tell me the best way to treat chalkbrood? As I said, it's never developed into a problem before.

Thanks

 

[Erichalfbee]

Requeen with a queen from resistant stock

 

[user 6228]

remove the stress from the bees: cold, disturbance, lack of food, long commuting distances, awkward bosses, expensive mortgages, big fuel bills etc