Need Bees Removed?
International
Beekeeping Forums
May 18, 2013, 04:35:13 AM *
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

Login with username, password and session length
News: Beemaster's official FACEBOOK page
 
   Home   Help Search Calendar bee removal Login Register Chat  
Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forums > BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER > DISEASE and PEST CONTROL > Should I be worried?

Pages: [1]   Go Down
« previous next »
  Print  
Author Topic: Should I be worried?  (Read 794 times)
joker1656
House Bee
**
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 341

Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
« on: June 08, 2009, 09:42:43 PM »
I am a newbie.  I purchased 4 packages of bees in April.  One of the packages died almost immediately.  A second is still doing poorly and is in the process of being combined with a swarm that I recently caught.  This second package appears to be queenless, thus the combining, with a laying worker.

Anyway, this hive of bees is making me worried.  I noticed the last time I opened them up a few cells that had some dark goop.  I, at first, thought it was dark pollen that had not been finished.  I took a tooth pick and picked at the goop.  It was just that, a kind of gray/black sludge.  It wasn't ropy, or sticky, just sludge.  What could that be?  There were several cells like this.

The brood that was present was drone brood.  I scraped a cap, or two off and they appeared healthy.  I did not see any sunken cappings, but as I said I am a newbie.  I could have missed them.  I did not see anything else in the hive that gave me any clues.

Could this be AFB?  Or possibly SHB feces?  Should I be concerned, or wait to see if the swarm gets things on track?  The swarm was fairly large and queenright.  I have no pics.  If anyone has any thoughts, I am open to them.  Thanks!

Joker
Logged
"Fear not the night.  Fear that which walks the night.  I am that which walks the night, BUT only EVIL need fear me..."-Lt. Col. David Grossman
kathyp
Universal Bee
*******
Offline Offline

Gender: Female
Posts: 13765


Location: boring, oregon
« Reply #1 on: June 08, 2009, 10:31:36 PM »
i have really dark gunk in my hives smiley.  it's some kind of pollen that they dragged in. 
Logged
"What has destroyed liberty and the rights of man in every
government which has ever existed under the sun?  The generalizing
and concentrating all cares and powers into one body, no matter
whether of the autocrats of Russia or France, or of the
aristocrats of a Venetian Senate." --Thomas Jefferson to Joseph C.
Cabell, 1816.
Cheryl
House Bee
**
Offline Offline

Gender: Female
Posts: 232


Location: Tucson AZ, USA

top bar beekeeper
« Reply #2 on: June 09, 2009, 12:03:22 AM »
Do bees ever store propolis in cells, or do they just stick that to surfaces?
Logged
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
~ Aristotle
Brian D. Bray
Galactic Bee
******
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 7280


Location: Anacortes, WA 98221

I really look like this, just ask Cindi.


WWW
« Reply #3 on: June 09, 2009, 11:48:49 PM »
Quote from: Cheryl on June 09, 2009, 12:03:22 AM
Do bees ever store propolis in cells, or do they just stick that to surfaces?

Propolis, the bee's super glue, gets put on pretty much everything in the hive.  I've seen reddish deposits in the cells but have always assumed it was red pollen but it is possilbe that they store it, it's just that during the time of year that the bees need and use it the resource for it is fresh.
Logged
Life is a school.  What have you learned?   Brian      The greatest danger to our society is apathy, vote in every election!
joker1656
House Bee
**
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 341

Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
« Reply #4 on: June 10, 2009, 07:05:31 PM »
Well, I don't think it's pollen.  It could be I suppose, but it was on the bottom of the cell.  It was a slimey dark gray goop.  It was not ropey, but is AFB always ropy, or is it only ropey at certain stages? 

Anyone have any thoughts/suggestions?  It doesn't appear to be widespread through all of the frames, but they only have about three frames drawn. 

Anyway, I'd be happy for any thoughts.  Thanks!
Logged
"Fear not the night.  Fear that which walks the night.  I am that which walks the night, BUT only EVIL need fear me..."-Lt. Col. David Grossman
Pages: [1]   Go Up
  Print  
« previous next »
 
Jump to:  

Beemaster's Beekeeping Ring
Previous | Home | Join | Random | Next
Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.18 | SMF © 2013, Simple Machines | Sitemap Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
Page created in 0.199 seconds with 22 queries.

Google visited last this page May 17, 2013, 12:53:22 PM