Ok as I do not know what truly happened , this is my opinion. I take combs from dead outs or questionable hives and get a bucket of water from the pool.This was a new nuc in May, it never really took off and just kept shrinking uniil it was completely gone. Signes of robbing, no mites on the bottom board, no sticky residue on dead pupas. Can anyone help? Can I reuse these frames with a new nuc?
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Any help and advice appreciated.
Z
This water has Chlorine , algeicide and some nice fun stuff in it, obviously meant for killing pathogens. Especially in pic #2 where the dead larvae are in it. I fill the cells with the water and shake it out several times. IE rinse with disinfectant type water. if the crud is dried in I may let is set for an hour then shake it out. The comb seems cleaner and smells better. These combs I would give back to a strong hive. Or if you think you had a bad demise then burn it all, that is the other end of the spectrum. This looks to me like you were done in by Mites, and the 7-10 virus they vector, I would also make a 30 day break in the bees dieing and you using the comb over. Many pathogens have a short shelf live like a week or 2. Miejer, Menards etc carry pool stuff look for a bag of "Shock" I bag is good for like 10,000 gallons so a 5 gal bucket would be like 1/2000 of a bag, meaning a spoon full is plenty. Chlorine bleach from your laundry supplies is also fine. Spice the water so to have a slight smell , not stronger than pool smell. Realize chlorine goes away in the open air in like a week, so treat the frame let them dry for a week or more, total time away from the dieing hive 30 days or more and reuse. Others will offer their advise , I guess you pick 1 or do what your gut tells you. If you get a second die out you may want to be more drastic next time. I also would not put 10 frames into 10 different hives, use the comb in 1 or 2 put in your notes that you did this so in the future if something happens you have the history.
GG
PS open some of the sealed brood, look for slimy sticky gooey stuff, this in bad,, if it is just a dried dead bee then likely you are ok
GG