Louise
05-04-2005, 08:21 AM
I helped a friend go thru a hive that has been fairly neglected. It was a new package last spring and placed on used equipment. The person careing for it was a new beekeeper and decided on a hands off approach (a few essential oil patties but otherwise no meds + no inspections). So this new person is taking over.
There was an immediate odor when we opened it - not overwhelming, but slightly sour. There were at least a dozen slugs on the outside frames and littered all over the bottom were dark black and white hard petrified larvae. These larvae were also in some of the cells. There were also eggs and up to 6 day larva that looked normal. There was also normal capped brood, with bees hatching as we watched.
So could the odor be due to the obvious chalkbrood? There was definitely no stringy or gooey brood, but I've also never actually seen foulbrood (either one) so I'm nervous I missed it. She's planning on transitioning out all the used comb and feeding them, but should we do real testing or should we treat with terramycin as well?
There was an immediate odor when we opened it - not overwhelming, but slightly sour. There were at least a dozen slugs on the outside frames and littered all over the bottom were dark black and white hard petrified larvae. These larvae were also in some of the cells. There were also eggs and up to 6 day larva that looked normal. There was also normal capped brood, with bees hatching as we watched.
So could the odor be due to the obvious chalkbrood? There was definitely no stringy or gooey brood, but I've also never actually seen foulbrood (either one) so I'm nervous I missed it. She's planning on transitioning out all the used comb and feeding them, but should we do real testing or should we treat with terramycin as well?