- both varroa counting boards taken home to be cleaned
- both floors washed down and replaced
Hive 3:
- lots of varroa on varroa counting board
- 6 frames with brood! Not full but a reasonable amount. 5 whole frames and 2 half frames
- nectar found and feeder removed
- no queen seen
- eggs and young larvae found
- 2 empty frames of foundation
- yellow and orange pollen going in, lots of pollen stored
Hive 1:
- 5 frames with sugar. 1 frame with nectar. Feeder removed
- 3 or 4 frames of brood. Mostly healthy, some signs of chalkbrood (shrivelled yellwy larvae in a few cells, small yellow nuggest, called "mummies", found on floor
Some chalkbrood "mummies"
- queen (red - 2008) seen
- 3 empty frames of foundation
- small amount stored pollen, more coming in: dull green-brown, yellow and dull orange pollens
Association Apiary
- hive 2 floor washed down, varroa counting board already at home
- empty hive 3 washed down and disinfected
Hive 2:
- 1 1/2 yr old queen (yellow - 2007) failing - virtually no brood, only a handful of bees, queen's abdomen very short and thin
Nuc:
- 2 1/2 frames healthy biscuit coloured brood
-pollen
-lots of bees
- queen found (red - 2008)
-some nectar
- altogether very healthy, pretty busy despite cloudyish weather, the perfect hive (except for temper!)
- we squashed the yellow queen in hive 2 and put the nuc frames and bees into hive 2, uniting the two colonies
Other notes:
- all waste removed in black plastic bin bag
- scrupulous disinfecting of gloves between hives and apiaries
Summary:
- we now have 3 hives, all full-sized
- 2 healthy, 1 hive with chalkbrood
- all hives otherwise off to a good start
- disappointing to have effectively lost a hive, but at least very little disease, all colonies strong and doing well.
Chalkbrood
A fungal spore that causes brood to become "chalky" and die. Like other fungi it thrives in unventilated, damp conditions. There is no treatment for chalkbrood and it is easily transfered from hive to hive if you aren't careful. The best ways to treat are good husbandry, making sure there is good ventilation etc. Chalkbrood rarely causes serious problems for colonies - you just have to keep it under control. Apiguard does have some effect on chalkbrood. I am hoping that as the weather brightens up and it's less damp, better ventilation etc. that this problem will clear up quickly and cause us no more problems.
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