Hi all. This is our first year and everything has been going well. Till yesterday when we inspected we noticed larvae outside of the cells, about 1/2 thumb in length. Doesn't seem normal. Any ideas why and what to do? thanks much.
could be wax moth larva or Small Hive Beatle (SHB) Larva. could you give a better description half thumb is not real accurate as we all have different size thumbs.. Pics would help, are they crawling, smooth body or ribbed?
I am new as well, and I inspected my 2 hives yesterday, and noticed developing larvae in what appeared to be torn open combs more than likely from me removing the frames ... at least thats what I think they are. I hope someone can answer your question too.
Once I had a weak hive. Brood got chilled and died. Dead brood bloated and were hanging out of and falling out of cells. Does the larva look dead to you? If moving, I agree with Tenbears.
Doesn't seem normal to me either.
Is the hive queenright? Does it have multiple frames of brood in all stages of development? Does it have enough bees to cover those frames? Does it have pollen and honey?
Thanks all for the advice. we went in and inspected, no beetles at all, no slime around the area, We also were able to locate the queen. So we removed the larvae and studied it. they have no legs so we ruled out the moths and beetles, compared to a picture of the bee larvae and it appears to be larvae of the drones. For some reason the bees build outside the frames and didn't cap them. We did an inspection of both supers and all looks well. I feel much better now! today i hope to sit on the deck and watch the activity. Have a great day!
Ah ha! Indeed they do. They frequently build drone comb between the bottom of frames in one super and the top of frames in the box below. Removing the frames tears open those cells, exposing the drone larvae and pupae. Good observation Kelly.
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