Dead pupa on landing board?

[Lek]

I was having a bit of a look this arvo at a couple of hive I have, I noticed that a few bee pupa on the landing board, and beside them a grub, which I took may be a SHB lava, do these shb destroy the cell where the bee pupa is , which in turns kills the pupa, or is there something else killing the pupa?  Any info would be appreciated………Kel

[JP]

Lek, sometimes when going through a hive, we may pull apart an area that has brood, usually drone brood in some cross or burr comb.

Once the brood are injured the bees will remove them, this is good behavior, this means they are keeping things well maintained (hygenic behavior).

SHBs lay eggs and small larvae hatch & feed on pollen and brood frames mostly. This happens for the most part when the colony is weak or has way too much space than it can govern and the beetles get a foothold.


...JP

[Lek]

Thanks JP, I had another look again before I turned in for the night, about 6 or 8 pupa on the board, then again this morning there was a couple more....  had another look at midday no more pupa on the board, though they might have been tossed  overboard, I will keep a close watch..... The hive hasn't been open for a couple of weeks, and as the weather was starting to get a bit cool I was not going to open until winter passed.

Here another technical question.. what would be the temperature in spring [wherever you happen to live] that you would open up a hive.here in Central Queensland at the moment is 26 degrees C. would that be getting a bit to cool to open a hive?.........Lek

[JP]

26C is 78.8F that is plenty warm enough to go into a hive. I may have mistaken your original post. Did you or did you not open the hive for inspection?

...JP

[Lek]

JP, the hive had not been opened, last time I took the lid off was about 2 weeks ago to check if they were building on new foundation.
I have checked throughout today, no sign of dead pupa, I will keep an eye on them for the next few days...Ok, so it should be safe for me to have a look in the brood box at that temperature.

[philinacoma]

darn, if I waited for 26C before I opened the hive I wouldn't open the hive half as much as what I do! 

I was told as long it is t-shirt weather you good to go.

May be time to open the hive and have a look see what's happening. Check for all the usual suspects.

[Hethen57]

My bees periodically purge some drone pupae when they decide they have enough drones in the hive.  I think they start way too many early in Spring to build up the population, then abort the ones they don't need.  My chickens love to clean them up 

[BoBn]

I think they start way too many early in Spring . . .

It's not Spring below the equator.

Chilled brood is common in the spring in the north-east USA.

In the fall drone pupae are no longer useful and are disposed.  Are they tossing drone pupae or workers?  What do they have for stores?   

How many hives do you have?
What are the workers bringing in?
How strong is(are) the hive(s)?
How many frames of brood/honey/pollen/drawn comb???
If something looks unusual,  you should inspect the hive unless you already understand what is happening.