Help: mysterious substance found on varroa board

[tchu]

Hello, I wonder if anyone could help, please.

Yesterday I witnessed 3hive inspections. The main purpose of the inspection was to feed 250grams of fondant each colony. They were Nationals, overwintered and run on 2 brood boxes each, one super underneath the bottom brood box, one above the top brood box, mouse guards. The hives had sleeves of correx around them, 2 varroa boards each (one plastic close to the OMF, one metal below the plastic one), and an insulating foam over the crown board, also covering the Porter bee escapes. When the varroa boards were pulled out, in two of the hives there was some debris and varroa on one side and a generous drop some honey like sticky substance on the other. We also noted a slug on the plastic varroa board of one of the hives so to the sticky homey like substance. On the metal boards of the 3 hives there were water drops, and the inspector assumed that the water drops were blown in by the wind/rain. One of them with the sticky substance on the varroa board had a faint smell of fermentation when the Porter pee escape was taken out, but the smell didn’t linger.

Any suggestions as to what that sticky honey like substance could be? Did it come from the bottom super? Was the honey cell damaged by a slug? Was it fermented honey?

And finally, how to troubleshoot this problem?

Thank you all in advance

 

[madasafish]

A photo would help.
Probably slug mucus: they travel on a thin film of it.

 

[tchu]

Thanks for the reply.

I don’t currently have a photo of the substance, but it definitely didn’t look like slug mucus. It looked like a generous honey drop. No idea how it got there, so that’s why I though maybe a slug or wax moth or something else broke a honey capping and the honey dropped, or maybe the honey just fermented.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

with all those boxes left on, I doubt you will have needed to put on fondant - even if it was only the little dod that you did apply.
Did you see any bee movement in the hive in question?

 

[tchu]

Yes, bees were alive, peeping out of the crown board holes in all 3 hives

 

[Curly green finger's]

with all those boxes left on, I doubt you will have needed to put on fondant - even if it was only the little dod that you did apply.
Did you see any bee movement in the hive in question?

I agree, have I understood this right the op has double brood with extra super as well?
@tchu what was your reasons for adding fondant?

 

[tchu]

Bolts & braces to avoid starvation, I’m assuming.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Is there insulation on the crown board? If there isn’t you might have condensation dripping down?
Edit yes you’ve said foam. Is it enough?

 

[tchu]

Yes there is - a foam over each hive’s crown board.
But there wasn’t condensation on the plastic varroa board, which is the one immediately underneath the OMF. The water droplets were on the metal board below the plastic one.

 

[Boston Bees]

No-one can possibly answer this question because you haven't provided a photo.

EDIT - so, in their frustration, all you are going to get from people is comments on your hive setup

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

and shut off those holes in the crownboards

 

[Erichalfbee]

You can always taste it

 

[tchu]

and shut off those holes in the crownboards

The holes are shut bu the Porter bee escapes. We replace one of them in each hive by the fondant

 

[Hebeegeebee]

As you are inspecting a bee-hive, could the sticky honey-like substance be honey?
Just a thought.
I would not be too worried - with such a large hive; assuming the bees are towards the top, then they would not be 'in control' of the whole hive so something could have gotten in the entrance.

 

[hemo]

One expects the substance was fermented honey not dealt with by the bees before winter or weeping honey from sealed cells, if a slug has been over the sealed honey then it will make the surface porous and some fermentation weeping will occur.

Water droplets are likely condensation dripping down esp with open feed holes, most colonies will develope condensation how one sets the hive up for overwintering will decide how that condensation leaves the hive.

Tbh it is far too soon to be fiddling open colonies, a simple heft would tell that how heavy and I would think with DB and a nadir one would need a fork lift to tip the edge up. Nadiring and a super on a DB, wow talk about being over cautious.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The holes are shut bu the Porter bee escapes

in that case, the escapes are probably U/S by now as the bees will propolise them up in no time. Although you would be well advised to use another method of clearing bees and dispose of the porters totally. Just put a piece of thin plywood over the holes - or a pieve of plastic cut from a takeaway container/margarine tub

 

[tchu]

One expects the substance was fermented honey not dealt with by the bees before winter or weeping honey from sealed cells, if a slug has been over the sealed honey then it will make the surface porous and some fermentation weeping will occur.

Water droplets are likely condensation dripping down esp with open feed holes, most colonies will develope condensation how one sets the hive up for overwintering will decide how that condensation leaves the hive.

Tbh it is far too soon to be fiddling open colonies, a simple heft would tell that how heavy and I would think with DB and a nadir one would need a fork lift to tip the edge up. Nadiring and a super on a DB, wow talk about being over cautious.

Hemo, how would you suggest the alleged fermented honey be dealt with? Would the best approach be to let the bees deal with it or do you think it should be extracted and when?

 

[hemo]

Depends oh how bad it is and one won't know until spring when one can get in the hive properly when the temps have risen to comfortable levels without wind chill, likely by then that the bees may have even used it.
One can extract it and use it for cooking or sell it to a horsey person to feed to their equine which suffers from hay fever.
One could keep it for swarms and nucs but if it is dripping it is messy to stores so one the the former is best.

 

[tchu]

Thanks!
My concern was that somehow the fermented honey could potentially upset the bees’ digestive system, but I don’t have enough knowledge to know whether it would or not.

Could the fermentation have been prevented? If so, how?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I’ve said this earlier. I’d taste it. Really. You can spit afterwards you know