- Joined
- Sep 7, 2013
- Messages
- 331
- Reaction score
- 306
- Location
- Loughborough
- Hive Type
- 14x12
- Number of Hives
- 11
Hi all,
Was looking at my wife's hive with her this afternoon. This is a very advanced colony for this time of year. 14x12, with 8 frames of BIAS - much of it wall to wall. Great looking brood pattern, cappings, and larvae.The bees were great in number, and were calm and healthy-looking. There is a good amount of drone brood at the edge of the nest on the verge of emerging, and there were a handful of play cups..... So all in all, a booming colony on the verge of great things (or swarming preparations!).
To the best of our knowledge/observation, it has not suffered with any wax moth infestation.
In and amongst the general excellence described above, we did spot one small area of 'classic' bald brood on one frame, which we glossed over.
However, on a second frame in a different part of the brood nest, we saw another patch of bald brood, but here the late-stage pupae were clearly dead and/or deformed. Even the open brood (larvae) in this area of the comb were somewhat less than 100%
I am not suspecting any heinous brood disease, but can't pinpoint the likely culprit for this dodgy/bald brood. I'm not discounting wax moth damage, but what is pictured feels atypical.
We'd obviously welcome any thoughts/comments (well I would, so I can claim the brownie points 😂)
Thanks in advance.
Was looking at my wife's hive with her this afternoon. This is a very advanced colony for this time of year. 14x12, with 8 frames of BIAS - much of it wall to wall. Great looking brood pattern, cappings, and larvae.The bees were great in number, and were calm and healthy-looking. There is a good amount of drone brood at the edge of the nest on the verge of emerging, and there were a handful of play cups..... So all in all, a booming colony on the verge of great things (or swarming preparations!).
To the best of our knowledge/observation, it has not suffered with any wax moth infestation.
In and amongst the general excellence described above, we did spot one small area of 'classic' bald brood on one frame, which we glossed over.
However, on a second frame in a different part of the brood nest, we saw another patch of bald brood, but here the late-stage pupae were clearly dead and/or deformed. Even the open brood (larvae) in this area of the comb were somewhat less than 100%
I am not suspecting any heinous brood disease, but can't pinpoint the likely culprit for this dodgy/bald brood. I'm not discounting wax moth damage, but what is pictured feels atypical.
We'd obviously welcome any thoughts/comments (well I would, so I can claim the brownie points 😂)
Thanks in advance.