chalk brood

[taff..]

I have a quick question,

I'll give a quick rundown of what one of my colonies has done this year first,

I did an artificial swarm which then swarmed on a single queen cell, the queen hatched, mated and started laying quite quickly, all has been well for the last month or so.

yesterday I checked the hive and found quite a lot of chalk brood on the floor and the mesh of the floor, as i went through the colony most of the frames looked ok except for one which had a lot of CB. This frame is the oldest in the colony as it was the one that the queen was on when I did the AS.

I've read a fair bit on here that says i need to requeen which is not a problem (provided i can get a queen), but the question is - is that old frame likely to be a cause of the CB?


I will be removing it anyway as it has spacers where the rest of the new frames are hoffman.

 

[jon]

I think it was Finman who posted that changing the queen eliminates the chalkbrood and not to worry about any on existing frames.
80% acetic acid for a week will fumigate frames if you are worried.

 

[jean]

but the question is - is that old frame likely to be a cause of the CB?

The spores are almost certainly on it, so even if not the cause, it's likely to be a vector for propagation.
At this time of year,I would leave it a little longer to see how the bees are coping with evacuating the mommies, and then decide whether I wanted to requeen or not. And then chuck it out. But that's only my way.

 

[Finman]

It is better discard that bad frame.
Decrease ventilation that brood area is warm. Dont inspect hive in cold weather.
Probably that one frame have caught cold too long.

 

[jon]

Probably that one frame have caught cold too long.

Yoiu definitely see more chalk brood after chilling or dampness.

 

[taff..]

The spores are almost certainly on it, so even if not the cause, it's likely to be a vector for propagation.
At this time of year,I would leave it a little longer to see how the bees are coping with evacuating the mommies, and then decide whether I wanted to requeen or not. And then chuck it out. But that's only my way.

they had cleared out probably about 3/4 of the mummies at a guess so they are certainly dealing with it.

It is better discard that bad frame.
Decrease ventilation that brood area is warm. Dont inspect hive in cold weather.
Probably that one frame have caught cold too long.

the weather has been pretty good and really warm for the last few inspections, so much so that I have been sweating my nuts off

Am I right in thinking that brood of a certain age are most affected by CB?
I put a super of foundation on last week and we have had lower temps since, could this explain why one frame is most affected as the brood on it was the correct age if one night was cold enough to chill them? maybe its just a coincidence that its the old frame that had the brood of the correct age on it?

it kind of makes sense in my mind

 

[Finman]

.
i have had many times that only one frame has mummies. I think that this frame has been out from hive when i inspected the brood area. I have not noticed that old comb means something.

But get soon a new queen.

 

[taff..]

thank you finman, will do

 

[DrNick]

This has been most enlightening with lots of good questions and excellent advice from finman, thank you.