What's this stuff?

[Tigger]

On the "varroa board" this stuff is falling recently.

Any ideas as to what it is?

 

[enrico]

On the "varroa board" this stuff is falling recently.

Any ideas as to what it is?

Looks like store cappings mixed with general muck. Good to see where they are in the hive.

 

[The Poot]

Looks like store cappings mixed with general muck. Good to see where they are in the hive.

Could it also be pollen debris from pollen mite activity?

 

[Tigger]

Looks like store cappings mixed with general muck. Good to see where they are in the hive.

Thanks. That was a zoomed image of the stuff.
I attach wide image of varroa board and an image of top of broad box. Oddly location of cluster does not seem to match the stuff- stuff towards the left, cluster to the right.

 

[Swarm]

When did the apivar strip go in?

 

[Parsonage Bees]

When did the apivar strip go in?

Lawrence @ BMH is suggesting putting ApiVar in now. [link] ?
(Must admit I've put Apivar in at the end of March but only for 3-4 weeks until supers needed.)

@Tigger I'd say that grey dust is the bees cleaning out mouldy cells, mouldy pollen as they look for more room to expand.

 

[ericbeaumont]

image of top of broad box

That colony would perform far better if it were transferred (on a mild day) into a 6f poly nuc box. In the current cathedral they will struggle to maintain nest heat.

When did the apivar strip go in?

My thought, too. Position of the strips on the edge of the nest suggests that they went in recently. What autumn treatment did you give the colony, Tigger?

 

[Tigger]

Thanks folks. My reply to all those points

I didn't treat in Aug/Sep as I didn't see any mite drop (now I regret).
The "stuff" was falling even back then. Here's photo from 14 Sep.

Apivar went on 16 January. By 24 January there was a big mite drop (photo). I opened up today to move the Apivar strips to a more central part of cluster (which I did after the photo).

I'll think about re-locating to a 6f nuke. The brood box is well insulated with Kingspan all round and on top. They have fondant above the brood box (on a QX to make it easy to temporarily remove it- hence it's not in the photo).

Cleaning out mouldy cells sounds plausible but if it IS this then it's taking a long time.

 

[Parsonage Bees]

I salute you as a weirdo like myself who takes photos of their varroa boards.

Yes, strange it was happening back in September. ? Has sugar crystals in it. ? Doesn't look like cappings. Don't know.
A few varroa in that last one. Not as bad as one of mine which 7 days after doing OA dribble had shed around 1000 mites in mid-December. (The dark patch looks like cappings so brood emerging.)

All the best.

 

[Tigger]

Thank you, kind sir.

I'll take a look in the box in March.

Goodnight.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Apivar went on 16 January. By 24 January there was a big mite drop

Those varroa are very dark and may be long dead, killed by the treatment you put in last autumn and cleared out by recent bee activity. The board also has on it wax moth droppings - small, dark cylinders - and an ant on the hunt for a snack. Ants are said to remove varroa from the board and so mislead the beekeeper's estimate of drop.

Some of the wax particles look too large: sure a mouse hasn't got in?