Hive possibly has dysentary; need Thymol?

[gardeningfireman]

On one of my hives, the landing board is pretty heavily speckled with brownish spots/gobs. Otherwise the hive seems healthy and strong. I am wondering if it could be dysentary.  I DO NOT want to use chemicals! Should I try thymol? If so, where do I get it? What about Honey B Healthy? Please help!!
Thanks,
Alan

[kathyp]

have they been in for a few days because of weather?  are you feeding?  most of the time it's no big deal and will pass in a day or two.  i don't think thymol is the answer. 

sure it's not some kind of pollen they are into?  what does your bottom board look like?

[gardeningfireman]

KathyP,
I was wondering if it could be pollen also, but my other hive next to it doesn't have the speckles. It has been like this for a while (because I figured it was probably pollen). We have had a lot of chilly/wet weather lately. We have a LOT of goldenrod around here, which the bees have been hitting heavy. I have not started feeding this hive yet because I am waiting for the honey to get capped before I harvest it. It otherwise seems to be a very strong hive; this is my first year, and it has one and a half med. supers full of surplus honey.
Alan

[gardeningfireman]

Oh yeah, I use screened bottom boards, and the boxes are slightly offset for added ventilation.
Alan

[Scadsobees]

I sometimes will get spots of propolis on parts of the hives.

If its bee dooty then its not just spots but lines and smears.  I doubt it this time of year, they can usually get out far enough to do their business without fouling the hive.

And if it is dysentary then you need Fumagilin, not thymol. 

Another note...if they have a super with uncapped honey, you should be very wary of taking more than a couple of frames.  I'd guess they don't have enough in the top brood box, and probably the bottom brood box is empty.  Not a lot of nectar to be gotten anymore.  But that's my guess.

Rick

[gardeningfireman]

Rick,
The two deeps are full of honey and pollen. They are still bringing in quite a bit of goldenrod pollen. In fact, sometimes they are so loaded they crash instead of land gracefully! One of the med. supers is full and about 90% capped, and the other one is about 35% full and 20% of that is capped.
Thanks,
Alan

[gardeningfireman]

Good news! I went out to the hive this afternoon and scraped the landing board. The brown spots and blobs were dry and flaked right off. They looked like flecks of dry propolis! What a relief!