Is there a website/page or a book or a thread here that can tell you what all the things are or help you identify all the bits that have fallen on to the Varroa board along with any varroa?
I dont know of any book or website but I do know its a good thing to start to read as it can tell you good information especially in the early months when its to cold to inspect but the bees are starting to get active.
Brood capping - best described as light to mid biscuit colour and deposited as fine granules on the tray. The light to mid colour can be dependent on the age of the comb light for new comb ect and from hive to hive but you can easily see the general colour of your brood cappings.
Honey capping - On the whole generally yellow to white but can be darker if from old brood frames again fine granules on the tray.
Wax scales – small flakes that catch the light and reflect similar to mother of pearl.
Bits of bees – Just that and perhaps from bees that have been dismembered by the bees after the beekeeper has squashed them and trapped then between frames.
Sometimes bits of reasonably developed bee larvae – Dont see this very often so dont know the reason but perhaps a varroa thing or chilled brood that the bees are not able to remove whole.
Chalk brood – Easy to look up but the pellets can fall through the mesh onto the tray.
Pollen
Wax moth larvae
Wax moth S**t, wood lice may also be responsible – about the same size of an egg but dark greay.
Varroa
Ants – They eat the varroa (thought I was doing pretty good until one day spotted an ant walking off with a varroa mite)
I have seen in the spring on old comb you can get dark deposits and darker than brood capping debris on the tray and this is the bees spring cleaning the old combs ready for the new season ahead. I would expect you would get this if you moved bees onto old combs during the season.
You could probably see plenty of other things but the above is generally what I look for when the mood takes me.
Its good to look at the tray try to read it and then see if what is happening in the hive follows your prediction. Watching the entrance is also good but far more information on the tray.
