Chalk Brood problem growing

[BernardBlack]

Queen is laying well, all looking grand. But the amount of chalk brood is growing with each inspection. Now there is quite a lot of it.

I thought maybe it was due to the stress in spring, when there’s a low bee to brood ratio. Now I’m not so sure.

Is this a Queen thing?
Will she need replaced?
I assume this won’t be improving any time soon?

 

[Erichalfbee]

They say chalk brood is more common if hives are kept in damp surroundings. Personally I think some bees just can’t keep on top of it and it’s down to queen’s genetics.
I would re-queen with an unrelated mated queen.
Have you another colony that can make you one?

 

[Camey]

I had a NUC package delivered last year in early June, quite a lot of chalkbrood, bottom board covered in "mummies" kept hive in good sunny location, checked heath of colony, removed mummies and frequently cleaned bottom board. Chalkbrood cleared up after about 4 weeks. Not returned and bees from this hive have been prolific! split them, 4 weeks ago and captured a swarm from them last week, so 3 hives from original one, all looking healthy.

 

[Parsonage Bees]

I've got 4 colonies that look like this. Not as strong as they should be. All daughters or granddaughters of the same queen.

The soft side of me is saying I can feed them up. I can get them over it. But the other side of me says kill the queen, unite them with another colony and reclaim the boxes. I'm running out of boxes. Again.

Going to unite the 4 into 2 and keep feeding them. Maybe I'll get some honey later in year.

. . . . Ben

 

[Rooster007]

They say chalk brood is more common if hives are kept in damp surroundings.

I had a similar problem a few years ago over the winter due to damp and ventilation problems.
Also, the wax on the brood frames was quite old.
I sorted the ventilation out and put fresh clean foundation on as soon as I could and this cleared things for me and no sign of chalk brood since.
How old is the wax on the brood frames?

 

[BernardBlack]

They say chalk brood is more common if hives are kept in damp surroundings. Personally I think some bees just can’t keep on top of it and it’s down to queen’s genetics.
I would re-queen with an unrelated mated queen.
Have you another colony that can make you one?

No, I just have the one hive at the minute.

 

[BernardBlack]

I had a similar problem a few years ago over the winter due to damp and ventilation problems.
Also, the wax on the brood frames was quite old.
I sorted the ventilation out and put fresh clean foundation on as soon as I could and this cleared things for me and no sign of chalk brood since.
How old is the wax on the brood frames?

Some are maybe 2/3 years old, the others were added fresh last summer.

Would carrying out a Bailey-type comb change be beneficial?

 

[Rooster007]

Would carrying out a Bailey-type comb change be beneficial?[/QUOTE]

The more experienced guys on here will be able to answer that one but the wax doesn't sound too old on yours. Mine was certainly much older than 3years as I'd inherited a couple of hives that hadn't been looked at for a number of years.
All I know is that the bees seemed much happier with fresh foundation and once the frames had been drawn out and the Q was laying the brood pattern seemed better.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Would carrying out a Bailey-type comb change be beneficial?

doubtful - requeening is the only option IMHO
'ventilating' the hive so the bees also have to deal with a gale blowing through the hive as well is definitely not a solution.

 

[Karsal]

Queen is laying well, all looking grand. But the amount of chalk brood is growing with each inspection. Now there is quite a lot of it.

I thought maybe it was due to the stress in spring, when there’s a low bee to brood ratio. Now I’m not so sure.

Is this a Queen thing?
Will she need replaced?
I assume this won’t be improving any time soon?

I've the same problem this year with two of my colonies.Last year used the OMF and replaced the queen but it didn't really clear up. I'm trying one colony with the witch doctor method.
I read on Dave Cushman's site that using a banana sometimes works, so thought I'd give it a try.
Theyve chucked loads of mummies out over this week so when I do my inspections over the weekend it will be interesting to see.

 

[Murox]

It's a fungus, but a range of factors, including high humidity, cool temperatures, and colony stress all seem to play a role. It's common advice to re-queen because it usually occurs in a weaker hive, the assumption being that a new queen (bred for hygienic behaviour) will make plenty of brood.

As mentioned there is always the anecdotal banana and thymol.

 

[Ian123]

I had a similar problem a few years ago over the winter due to damp and ventilation problems.
Also, the wax on the brood frames was quite old.
I sorted the ventilation out and put fresh clean foundation on as soon as I could and this cleared things for me and no sign of chalk brood since.
How old is the wax on the brood frames?

There’s a reasonable chance your queen in that nuc may not have been responsible for the brood/chalkbrood. Requeening is the best option, if I find hives showing signs the queens knocked off pretty sharply.

 

[beeno]

I've the same problem this year with two of my colonies.Last year used the OMF and replaced the queen but it didn't really clear up. I'm trying one colony with the witch doctor method.
I read on Dave Cushman's site that using a banana sometimes works, so thought I'd give it a try.
Theyve chucked loads of mummies out over this week so when I do my inspections over the weekend it will be interesting to see.

Done, the banana, and shook swarm without changing queen a couple of years ago - no good. This year shook one colony out that was far behind the others and requeened from another colony with clean comb and hive. Prior to this I had put them on a clean floor and next inspection it was full of mummies again. Enough!

 

[BernardBlack]

Forgive my ignorance, but the banana method - can you explain how and what to do? And the thinking behind it?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Forgive my ignorance, but the banana method - can you explain how and what to do? And the thinking behind it?

Just Google Bananas for Chalkbrood. There’s masses of stuff on it.
It doesn’t work and if you are using it as a treatment for a condition then strictly speaking that banana is a medication and one that is not licensed for that use so illegal

 

[bpmurray]

Since it's a fungus, presumably changing the foundation will help. In general it seems to be something to do with the queen and it's exacerbated by stress, i.e. stress in the form of cold, damp, too few workers, etc.

 

[Murox]

Since it's a fungus, presumably changing the foundation will help. In general it seems to be something to do with the queen and it's exacerbated by stress, i.e. stress in the form of cold, damp, too few workers, etc.

It might if its really old and grotty carrying a high load, as might re-queening with genetics that are less prone to it .

 

[For want of a better word]

Oil Of Wintergreen fixed the problem in some Greek Buckfasts that had a tendency towards chalkbrood a few years back when I felt the need to import queens.... prior to the discovery that our local native Cornish black bees produced better honey and were far better suited to our local environmental conditions!

see this

http://www.surrybeekeepers.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/EssentialOilsInBeekeeping161113.pdf

Chons da

 

[Michael Palmer]

This question comes up time after time. Isn't there anyone in the UK selecting hygienic stock with the frozen brood method? It's so easy to overcome chalk brood through proper selection. Give up the other long standing "cures" and search out hygienic stock...if there is any in the UK.

 

[beeno]

Check the colony today where I despatched the chalkbrood queen and put them on clean comb in nuc. New queen laying, really strong and heavy with honey have to put super on tomorrow. Definitely the way to go.