Mold on Cover & Inner Cover

[dgoodman]

Hello All,

I have posted this issue once before, but its persistence leads me to my own persistence in resolving the issue...Mold!

I have green mold forming on the inner cover and the cover.

My setup is as follows: 2 Supers, Feeder (holds about a gallon), Inner Cover (have cut a 2" notch in the rear edge of the cover to allow more airflow, and placed a screen on slot to prevent bees from entering), cover.

The hive is located in a place where it receives about 3 hours of direct sunlight a day. The rest of the day is either indirect or shade (kind of the same thing). I don't really have a better location, and I know others who do quite well in 100% shade.

I have applied hydrogen peroxide in an effort to kill mold without leaving any distrubing fumes for the bees.

Thank you in advance for any advice you may be able to offer.

Best,

David

[clintonbemrose]

All my hives are set in direct sunlight and I get no mold. It sounds like the hives need more sun or less shade.
Clint

[MichaelW]

I get plenty of mold in my hives. My hives get some shade and some sun and are placed at the top of a hill instead of the low wet area of our property. As long as the colony isn't failing for other reasons the bees keep the mold under control. I get black mold, green mold, I've even seen a funky brown powdery mold on a failed colony. Stored pollen molds very quickly when the colony is to weak to maintain a clean hive.
Don't worry about it, as far as I can tell all the colonies I have lost was from mites, starvation, failed queen, not the mold. Here in TN EVERYTHING molds and I don't see how anything can be done about that. Just keep those colonies strong and don't let your feeder water mold. I use a quart jar top feeder to help avoid mold. A vented bottom left open all year and a healthy sized vent in the inner cover is good too. I would think cleaning the wooden ware only creates a nice steril pitri dish for the mold to grow back on.

[King bee apiary]

How strong are your hives?I would think that with a large populations of bees there would be enough heat in the hives with out putting them in direct sun.

What kind of ventilation do you have on the top?I use four 2" popcicle sticks under the top cover on each corner.

You may have to put vent holes in each brood box with screen to cover it.Or try a top entrance for the bees.My strongest hive is packed in the bottom box and the second one is 3/4 full all the time,I'm using a frame type feeder and it really keeps the frames pushed tight together,which with a lot of bees on each frame air circulation can not be good.With temps in the low 90's now I have noticed them bearding on the landing board.So I will also have to add some more ventilation.


Could it be mold growing in the sugar syurp?I boil my water for a few seconds let cool a bit then add the sugar and mix.

The only other thing I can see doing is replaceing all the hive bodies with new ones and clean the old ones some how.

Maybe someone out there manufactures a very small dehydrater you could put in.

good luck

[Michael Bush]

Are you still feeding? Syrup will produce a lot of humidity. If you stop feeding it will help.

I don't know why you don't want them entering the top, but more top ventilation would probably help a lot. I guess you can screen it if you like. A vent kit or a home made version of one would help.

http://www.beeworks.com/usacatalog/items/item91.htm

An open SBB will probably help.

More sunlight would help.

I would consider the mold a direct indication that there is too much humidity and not enough ventilation.

I would clean it with vinegar, myself. It seems to kill mold pretty well.

[Robert Brenchley]

I had a lot of mould before I put in SBB's. I've never seen it since.

[Dick Allen]

Sounds like more ventilation is needed. After the hive started to grow, the bars on my tbh were usually wet and black spots began showing up on them. Removing on of the bars and covering the opening with screen fixed the problem.

[MichaelW]

I agree, full screened bottom board all year and a hearty sized vent in the inner cover. Also keep the hive up off the ground. 2 stories of cinder blocks should be enough. My previous post may have belittled concern for mold but I do agree to make sure you have lots of ventilation. I still have some mold with the ventilation, the main thing to look at is the amount of mold and have you done everything possible for ventilation. Depending on your location, you may still have some mold after you do that.