hi everyone,
 
i lost my only hive over the winter.  took a look in early feb, still had
a nice cluster of bees.  a few days later, i noticed no bees flying, and
after opening the hive, no bees were found.  oh well......
 
i've noticed a strong fermented smell, which i attribute to uncapped honey
gone bad.  i also see patches of gray dried cells scattered among normal
creamy looking comb.  first year stuff, so still pretty new.
 
question is, what is the gray stuff?  does afb manifest itself like this too?
should i scrape the stuff out or leave the next batch to clean up?  will
my next batch of bees get infected from this?
 
thanks in advance for your help!!!
 
john
santa cruz, california