Monitoring Board Debris

[charlievictorbravo]

I was trying to count Varroa mites on a monitoring board today (good news - 2 mites in 3 days) and I came across a lot of white shell-like articles. Closer inspection under a dissecting microscope showed what looks like bits of white bee skeleton - small selection in photo taken through one lens of the bifocal microscope.

Are these immature bees pulled out of their cells by the nurse bees because they were faulty, cold, diseased, infested, etc? Is there any way of determining why they were pulled out - I can't think of anything specific but I'm hoping the bees know?

CVB

 

[drex]

I can see bits of what look like antennae, so yes, bits of immature pupae. Bees will remove them if they are diseased, or got chilled, or hive is low on stores etc. The bees know what they are doing