What is this debris?

[Ringlander]

Hi, found this on the board when I pulled it out after 24 hours to check for natural varroa drop. No varroa but some largish black or dark brown lumps amongst the wax at the corner of the board. Can anyone suggest what it is? The very faint squares on the first picture are 2" as a scale. Thanks

 

[B+.]

Don't worry. You'll see some pretty dirty comb as they start expanding in the spring. It's not the same as the cappings wax you'll see when you extract honey. This is dirty old comb that may have been re-used from elsewhere in the brood nest.
You might also see dead bees/bee parts, poop, etc. If you use some sort of magnifying instrument, you may also see other creatures crawling through the hive litter looking for a meal.
You might also see the occasional sugar crystal too. They need water to dissolve it and some might be just dropped to the floor while they're working.

 

[Ringlander]

Don't worry. You'll see some pretty dirty comb as they start expanding in the spring. It's not the same as the cappings wax you'll see when you extract honey. This is dirty old comb that may have been re-used from elsewhere in the brood nest.
You might also see dead bees/bee parts, poop, etc. If you use some sort of magnifying instrument, you may also see other creatures crawling through the hive litter looking for a meal.
[/QUOTE
Wow, thanks for such a quick answer!

 

[oliver90owner]

There might be a mouse at home?

 

[madasafish]

There might be a mouse at home?

Does look like something is tearing at comb...

 

[Ringlander]

mmm, I see where you're coming from. Can't see any mouse droppings though so, given I really don't want to start poking around inside yet I'll just keep my fingers crossed and go with B+'s interpretation! ) Thanks though!

 

[Ringlander]

Oops, ) was supposed to be

 

[pargyle]

mmm, I see where you're coming from. Can't see any mouse droppings though so, given I really don't want to start poking around inside yet I'll just keep my fingers crossed and go with B+'s interpretation! ) Thanks though!

Take the entrance block out ... give the hive two or three good thumps ... with a bit of luck, if there is a mouse living in there, it will make a run for it ... if one comes out - might want to have a peep in and see if there are any bees in there. If there are still bees in residence, replace entrance block and make sure the entrance is reduced to a single bee space to stop a mouse returning - because it will.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

mmm, I see where you're coming from. Can't see any mouse droppings

I don't know, I thought one or two of the items looked a bit mouseturdy
Have you tasted any of it?

 

[Gunzo]

Looks like earwig poop. Without checking the size of it

 

[Malcolm Stamp]

That’s highly unlikely to be a mouse, I have seen it in the past and had one have the temerity to feast in one of my hives this winter, they do tend to leave lots of splinters of wood about, I think they chew the frames to get the wax off their teeth.

 

[Ringlander]

Mouse poo is typically 4mm long, these bots are less than 1mm so pretty sure it's earwigs or a very small mouse. The flavour is a grassy initial hit with cinnamon aftertones and a peaty finish. If it were whisky I'd pay about £80 a bottle for it....

 

[Earthboy]

In the second photo, near the bottom on the right, there is a black small hive beetle looking thing. Hope you do not have SHB's in the Isle.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

In the second photo, near the bottom on the right, there is a black small hive beetle looking thing. Hope you do not have SHB's in the Isle.

no, we don't

 

[Erichalfbee]

Does SHB over winter in hives?

 

[Earthboy]

Yes. The buggers are very clever to stick around the winter cluster; in fact, as you may have heard from your National lecture series, the SHB larvae would rub bee's antenna begging for food, and bees, unawares, would FEED the buggers as if they were bee larvae, for instance. A good example of co-evolution of a pathogen and a host. Or cuckolding in its original meaning.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thanks. I know about the sly feeding bit but didn’t realise they over winter. I know they fly with swarms too!

 

[Earthboy]

Dani,

SHB's pose a huge problem in the south of USA. I have not treated my stock for v. mites for two decades now, but I' ve lost quite a few to SHB's regularly. It is now next to impossible to make splits in summer; the splits becoming a smorgasbord for the SHB. Typically, as the nucs expand, their numbers are still limited so they cannot patrol the newly filled (nectar and pollen) combs, areas that are vulnerable for SHB invasion. Unchecked, SHB's can wipe out a strong colony in three days. Some colonies abscond even in November, hopelessly. Given how bee pathogens are propagated throughout the world, I fear you too will get SHB's, given time, looking at how v. mites jumped from Apis Cerana thanks to global trade.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Our climate might save us.
I am on clay and it rains a lot.

 

[Earthboy]

The buggers love humidity; in moist years, they are worse.