poo on outside of hive

[Buzzo]

Hi
quite large amounts splattered over the front and sides of the hive.

just want to check its not a problem.

Thanks

B.

 

[user 819]

Doesn't look too overly bad to me, just a case of more local defecating rather then further away where one doesn't witness it.
If dysentery is bad the combs and inside of the hive will be heavily stained.

 

[elainemary]

Hi
quite large amounts splattered over the front and sides of the hive.

just want to check its not a problem.

Thanks

B.

Hi
Like many answers to bee related questions it depends...

Could be a bit of dysentery after feeding on honey with too high a water content, after a period of being confined that will sort itself out with a few nice flying days & some sun

Or, could be a sign of nosema apis a Protozoa which can clean up by itself if a mild infection, again after a few nice flying days

Only way to find out if latter is to ask someone local who has a microscope to look at a sample of 30 bees (collect at entrance and freeze)

How do the frames look inside the hive? Appreciate it’s not v warm to look but when you can, if the colony looks to be thriving and frames are all clean, don’t worry

Do you have another hive to compare it to? If they are building up at similar rates and vs others locally again fine don’t worry

Otherwise if frames dirty inside I would ask someone with experience in your local association if they will look at a sample of your bees.

There’s no official cure, but there are options that can help such as spraying the bees with Thymol (there are recipes on this site) or Nosevit. / Hive alive.
If combs look poor you’ll need to change them so it doesn’t spread & reinfect but probably not as bad at that from your photo
Hope this helps

 

[user 819]

Nosema ceranae doesn't produce the dysentery effect of nosema apis so isn't always an indication of the cause, ceranae appears to be the more dominant strain , but as suggested a sample can be tested.

 

[Boston Bees]

Had a nuc with an entrance spattered with poo. Opened up today for the first time. Laying workers. Correlation is not causation of course. Have you inspected yet?

 

[Finman]

If weather is cold and they cannot fly outside the hive, they may don't can fly, they do those figures.

Spring should heal the nosema.
And you have there almost summer.

 

[masterBK]

Elainemary: "could be a sign of nosema apis a Protozoa"
Sorry to be a pedantic biologist but Nosema is not a protozoan even though it was classified as such a few years ago but people who know about such things decided that microsporidians like Nosema should now be considered as Fungi.

 

[The Poot]

Hi
quite large amounts splattered over the front and sides of the hive.

just want to check its not a problem.

Thanks

B.

You should see my car, which used to be black.......

I‘ve had the same before with no issues - it’s as Finman says I would think.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

looks perfectly normal to me, albeit splattered around the entrance - usually what happens when bees have been confined for a while and, as soon as they leave the hive have an excited dump.

 

[Buzzo]

thanks for all your replies-checked inside the hive and they are poo free , also the bees are thriving .

 

[elainemary]

Elainemary: "could be a sign of nosema apis a Protozoa"
Sorry to be a pedantic biologist but Nosema is not a protozoan even though it was classified as such a few years ago but people who know about such things decided that microsporidians like Nosema should now be considered as Fungi.

Thanks for that, knew it was a fungi but thought fungi were in the larger class of protozoans, as spore forming.

 

[elainemary]

thanks for all your replies-checked inside the hive and they are poo free , also the bees are thriving .

Great, please about that!
Even now, I get paranoid when i see 'poo' outside the hive. Goes back to my first season, when I was sold a couple of nucs riddled with nosema. What a state they were in (one dead and one just alive) after the winter

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

thanks for all your replies-checked inside the hive and they are poo free , also the bees are thriving .

It's a bit like when you're driving on the M25 and decide you want to go, but you're OK, you can hold it in for ages, but as soon as you see the sign 'Clacket Lane services 1 mile ahead' - the otter's nose comes out for some air

 

[Gilberdyke John]

It's a bit like when you're driving on the M25 and decide you want to go, but you're OK, you can hold it in for ages, but as soon as you see the sign 'Clacket Lane services 1 mile ahead' - the otter's nose comes out for some air

Reminds me of one of my staff who broke off mid conversation and set off at a run, shouting over his shoulder "can't stop - touching cloth"