Brown liquid in OSR Honey supers

[MeatheadSnowman]

Hi,
This weekend we have removed 3 of our supers that are filled mainly with OSR honey. In one of the supers (which has been above a Queen excluder) there is a strange brown liquid. It smells different to the honey, almost like cabbage. The weird thing is, it is in a laying pattern similar to brood. (The rugby ball type shape) The honey all around it is fine. The bee's aren't showing any other signs of distress, no deformities etc. Any ideas?

 

[jd101k2000]

A photo might help.

 

[MeatheadSnowman]

Fair point. Will go get one. At first i thought the worst and suspected AFB / EFB but having looked at hundreds of pics over the last couple of hours they definitely don't seem to match.

Maybe i should explain circumstances too. Once honey was extracted, supers were soaked in water to try and get rid of crystallised osr (we'd read about this on another forum). It has worked except in some of the cells a brown liquid has been left behind. Wife says it smells like honey, i say there's a hint of cabbage! Just going to take a pic,...

 

[MeatheadSnowman]

Hopefully this works. The picture is upside down. So the brown section is bottom of the frame. Please say it isn't EFB / AFB. This is only our 2nd year.

 

[oliver90owner]

EFB and AFB are two brood diseases affecting larvae - the name gives it away.

If this is only in honey supers it cannot be a brood disorder.

Either old honey or something else they have collected.

Question might be: have these frames been brooded in? If so, the comb will be darkened by larval cocoons.

 

[Beauhawk]

Has the queen laid in this super at any time? Ie did you have her on brood and a half?

Then - could this be pollen that did not spin out that is now wet after it's dunking?

 

[MeatheadSnowman]

That's what i was thinking. The only thing i can think of, is the bee's weren't too good in getting past the Queen excluder so i took advice and was told to put a couple of frames from the brood box (i use brood and a half on nationals.) into the super. Could the brood in these frames have died and that's what I'm seeing?

 

[Chris B]

Then - could this be pollen that did not spin out that is now wet after it's dunking?

That's exactly what it is.

 

[MeatheadSnowman]

Phew. Thank you sooo much. I have been in bits all evening worrying that i have completely messed things up and possibly affected those Apiary's around me.

 

[Sean.]

Then - could this be pollen that did not spin out that is now wet after it's dunking?

I would agree with that.