Help with diagnosis

[Troy]

I went thru a hive of mine that was booming 2 weeks ago and now seems a little less so.

I see a pretty solid brood pattern punctuated by some empty cells here and there. I'd guess about 1-2% of the frame. There is an equal number of cells where the tops are chewed out and the larvae are exposed. They are head up in the cells, but still pure white. On some of them the eyes are just beginning to darken, they look bluish/purplish.

Regrettably I did not pull any out to see if they were dead or not.

Is this a varroa symptom? Are the larvae likely dead? If not varroa mites, what else could this be?

I think it would be very helpful to have a section of the "photos" thread to show different views of the different diseases for help in diagnosing these things. We newbies don't know what is going on.

[Chef Isaac]

troy:

take a picture and put it up so we can all take a look.

Sounds like you might have hygenic bees. If they asre hygenic, they will detect a problem in capped brood and tear the cell open. They usually remove the brood.

Do you have SBB? If so, have the checked them out for a mite count?

[George Fergusson]

Sounds like you might have hygenic bees.

All bees are hygenic in that they will uncap and remove dead and diseased brood. That's normal beehavior. The term "hygenic" however has come to refer to bees with a certain genetic trait or traits that engender a stronger and more proactive attitude towards varroa mites and which includes more rigorous grooming behavior but which also causes them to uncap and remove brood that is merely infested with varroa mites whether or not the brood itself has been seriously infected or damaged by mites.

The presence of uncapped later-stage pupae is not necessarily a sign of so-called "hygenic" bees, but it is typically a sign of a heavily varroa-infested hive. I'd be looking for other symptoms of PMS- a general lack of nurse bees, dead and dying emerging brood partly out of their cells with their tongues sticking out, and bees with deformed wings either dead in their cells or emerged and walking around.

Do some drop counts or a sugar shake to assess the mite load. You fail to mention whether it's worker or drone brood you're seeing uncapped. Find some drone brood. Uncap it and remove the larvae or pupae and check for mites- in the cell and on the larva. Do this to at least 20 cells of drone brood. If you find 2 with one or more mites, you've got a problem worth addressing.

There are other reasons for so-called "bald headed brood" but these days, varroa mites are the most likely reason you'll see this situation.

[Dave W]

Right On, George!!!!

[Chef Isaac]

I meant to say more of a hygenic bee.

I do not believe that all bees are of the hygenic type.

[George Fergusson]

I meant to say more of a hygenic bee.


I knew that :)

All bees are hygienic but some are more hygienic than others :)

[Chef Isaac]

George... you are my friend! :)

[Troy]

OK, I will go look at them again tomorrow. Note to self, bring camera.

I have not been doing mite counts, but yes I have them on a SBB so I should do that. If I can slide a board under there after work today, then I can get nearly a 24 hr count.

I agree with the post earlier about not all bees are hygenic. I had a cut out once where the brood got chilled and mostly died and the bees just sat there amongst the stinky dead brood for the next several days. They weren't even trying to clean it up. It was nasty. I went through the hive and culled all the stinky comb and gave the bees some food. Ultimately, I had no queen and the brood was dead, so they ended up being combined with another hive.