If I can get photos tomorrow on a day off, I'll post them. The split was made up in eastern WA on March 27 into a cardboard nuc box, after coming back from CA almond, traveled across the Cascades during a snow storm, on an open trailer with 120 other such splits, sat in a bee yard until I hived them on April Fool's Day (AH!). Only some of the brood emerged from the three full frames of capped brood. I was a little late noticing that the stalled hive's workers seemed to be spending all of their energy uncapping dead larvae. Little dried up larvae, none old enough to have eyes. Lots of larval corpses on bottom board, landing board, left in uncapped cells.
The hive's fourth queen (if you count the two it came with), came in on a frame with a palm size patch of capped larvae, and half of a frame of uncapped larvae. In two plus weeks, she never left the frame she rode in on as far as I can tell.
The hive was given four frames of drawn comb from last year, and one of foundation to draw and fed 1:1 in from a Mann Lake top feeder.
The brood issues did not come with the current queen. There appear to be enough bees to cover brood. She's not using drawn comb (which was yellow honey comb from drawn last year-I didn't give them any old brood comb). As I said, she's laying where she can, stuck on one frame. Ignoring drawn drone frames, drawn (honey) comb, and a small amount of freshly drawn Mann Lake Ritecell.
I have given this hive three frames of brood and bees in the six weeks plus that I've had it in addition to those that came in it. There are probably five frames of bees. They bring in a little pollen, cleanse, but stopped taking syrup, even though it's thought we're in a dearth right now.
I've not treated this hive, nor have I used EOs, HBH, etc, They were given one Ultrabee patty, (and whatever is in that) when hived.
I'm not familiar with EFB, so will research. There is no smell, by the way. I know there are cases of EFB in the county, including, I hear, at the university extension breeding yards of our local world reknown Carniolan geneticist.
I termed it Chalk Brood due to the dried up white little larvae, but out of my league here.
I've had a lot of advice to let this problem child go. My household Chief Financial Officer (the Missus) has said, after $50.00 in (two) queens- "No more buying queens" (for this hive). I'm still determined to save it, as much as I can, but not at the risk of the other three hives I have to draw resources from, and the one in the same yard I might somehow infect.
My gut tells me there is a virus, fungus, disease, SOMETHING, that came in the splits comb, brood or bees. The queens before the current one never produced ANY brood, so I can't blame them.
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