[rache]

i inspected the hive yesterday, and did a sticky board count. the board was on for about 3.5 days following a powdered sugar treatment (second of three) and we averaged 3.4 mites per 24 hours, so i'm feeling pretty comfortable with that.

also on the board was this thing (and my pinky for size comparison - the worm is about 15mm long.)

http://x04.xanga.com/754a7bf17973569603474/m46777562.jpg

is it an SHB larva? i don't really notice any spines on it, and i also wasn't sure what size they are. there was only one on the board, and i didn't see any beetles in the hive.

the other thing i noticed which i haven't seen before were a few cells (i counted maybe 8 such cells total, looking at maybe ten frames?) of partially or mostly uncapped pupal cells. in one pic you can see the purple eyes on one of them. why would this happen, and are there other things i should be looking for?

http://xbc.xanga.com/accd16e63333669599179/w46774491.jpg
http://x85.xanga.com/ec0a86e63473769599192/w46774498.jpg

any help would be much appreciated.

 

[AstroBee]

Its a little hard to tell from the picture, but my guess is that it is not SHB larvae, but instead a wax moth larvae. Look on page 4 in the link below for a really clear pic of a SHB larvae.

www.csl.gov.uk/science/organ/environ/bee/diseases/documents/SHB_factsheet.pdf

 

[Dave W]

rache . . .

The "thing" looks like a wax worm; no problem, IF hive is strong.

Bees uncapped brood because something is wrong inside. Sometimes, cells w/mites are uncapped.
Is your hive strong or weak?
Do other capped cells look normal?

 

[rache]

thanks, guys.

to my first-year eyes, the hive looks very strong. the beard was so huge at night that i put on a super, just to give them some space to spread out. there are always lots of eggs, and emerging bees look fine to me. two sugar rolls (last week, and the week before) yeilded zero mites, and like i said, the sticky board following sugar treatment gave a little over three mites per 24 hours. (i didn't pull those open pupae out of their cells to look at them, since i didn't figure i was that delicate, and i didn't want to wreck anything.)

this is the original full shot that i cropped one of the cell pictures from (they're in the lower left quadrant of the frame.) it's representative of most of the capped brood frames, so i would think if there's soemthing wrong, you could see it here.

http://x38.xanga.com/4b6a8af51913669618885/w46788771.jpg

 

[cphilip]

By the way Rache... you have lovely manicured fingers... for a bee keep....

 

[jim b]

>By the way Rache... you have lovely manicured fingers... for a bee keep....

....for anybody!

I would like to know- What kind of bees are these?

...and i guessed it to be a wax worm.
-j

 

[rache]

they're the kind that came in the package the nice bee dude handed me, baha.

sorry, i had so much i was trying to remember (first hive and all) at the beginning, the one thing i forgot to ask was where they came from and what they were.

and ha - i didn't notice my nails had gotten long until right after that photo was taken, and i had to start cleaning the propolis out from under them.

 

[Dave W]

rache . . .

That brood frame looks great!

I'll stick w/ my statement above, "Bees uncapped brood because something is wrong inside".

In the beginning of the uncapping process, cappings may appear perforated w/ very small holes. For some reason, your bees are wanting to look inside

Maybe the know sometnig we dont

I'd keep an eye on the broodnest (for other signs) and mite population (which sounds great too).

And, maybe they just want less brood because of the heat

>they're the kind that came in the package the nice bee dude handed me . . . Hey guys! Here's another NewBEE that hasn't learned to lie

 

[rache]

oh, i know how to lie, alright. i'm not even a beekeeper. i just lifted those pics off some crazy girl's blog.