chalk brood and prospective queens

[newportbuzz]

hi. i went to help our a member of my local club with his hives today. one of his hives decided its time to pack up bags and move on.
so im sat there with a very illusive queen in a hive with open primed queen cells.
Now comes the nice bit. they were open for close to 2 hours all told and had been opened before i got there aswell in the members attempts to remedy the problem.

They were a joy to work....... so i have asked for a few queen cells to try the strain myself. BUT they have chalk brood in the hive.

The quantity is quite large for this time of year altho it could have someting to do with location as the area is quite damp.

So here is my question is there any remedies i could try to get myself a queen without a surceptability to chalk brood???

I can take a few cells so i would imagine that is in order of 5 or so. I can mate them from nucs apideas or even full hives if it is considered worth doing.

 

[Poly Hive]

The short answer is another strain.

Whether they are chalkie due to stress is another issue which may bear considering.

I have "heard" chalkie colonies when I move them from the mummies rattling across the floor mesh and next move they are clean.

Try it and see, you can always use them as swarm bait.

PH

 

[newportbuzz]

true its a long road with no turns. was just hoping there was something i could do to influence the chalkiness while the queens are being made. or in their mating,s