[flatfootflukey]

today I saw a bee dragging a larva on the ground away from the hive. she got it about 6ft from the hive then flew back inside.
this hive is a swarm I caught last year. they have been slow to take off this year. lots of stores left over but not raising much brood yet like my other ones are.
any idea why they would pull brood out of cells?
I thought maybe hygienic behavior but did not see any mites on the larva. of course I've only saw mites on larva in books so I may not know it if I saw it.
also the bee's head and upper body was covered in what looked like maybe crystalize honey Im not sure.
is there anything specific I should be looking at or worried about with this hive?

 

[RayMarler]

I can only guess. what is the population levels of this hive? Smaller populations take longer to get started as it takes bees to raise bees. Have you had some warmer weather and then some colder weather snap back in lately? As the weather warms, they expand brood as far as they can with bees to tend to them. If the weather snaps back cold again the bees need to move in more closely to cluster, and the brood they had started at the outer edges will be sacrificed and will chill because of the cold snap. Then as it warms again, they will remove any chilled brood and start expansion of brood again. Is this maybe what could have happened?

 

[nhoyt]

it looks like it has a mite on it, some bees are very hygenic and will remove infected larva

 

[Keith Jarrett]

Check for mite load.

 

[flatfootflukey]

the total hive population would cover about 4 deep frames covered front and back.
there is only eggs and brood (open and capped ) on the outside of frame #5 and the inside of frame #6 in the bottom deep and about 10 capped drone cells on #5 frame in the medium on top.
I guess it could be chilled brood, it has been about 9 days since our last cold snap.

I have not done a mite count yet but will the next clear day.

thanks for the input guys