In a message dated 6/27/99 9:27:17 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:

>There is  a  peppered appearance to the brood nest with brood of numerous
ages of brood  and eggs intermixed.  It seems that the queen is doing her
job, but the brood
> seem  to not be surviving.  I considered foul brood.  Yet there is not the
stringy
>  appearance to dead brood and no characteristic smell.  It also seems that
> the   brood are dying at different ages. Some seem to be a blob of white
stuff.
> Some  have pupated (a word?) and the pupa is dead... sometimes white,
sometimes  brown  in color.   I know chalk brood and there are no mummies.

   One can only conjecture from this distance, and without any testing. I see
one occasionally that would fit your description. I put it down as "weak
stock."

    One possibility that occurs to me, is that, in this time of dwindling
bees, there are fewer and fewer drones out there, and the probability
increases, of the young queen mating with her brothers. This brood becomes
very poor, as a lot of it is not viable. This coupled with bees that have
poor hygiene, could lead to symtoms such as you describe.  Tracheal or varroa
damage, with associated viruses, and poor-hygiene bees could also be an
explanation.


>  I have thought of requeening, but the queen is laying lots of eggs.  Maybe
> for
>  some reason the eggs are not viable.  I have removed the super and
> considered
>  removing one hive body. (All the action is in the top of two hive bodies.)
>  Perhaps this will reduce the stress and allow them to recuperate.  I
> considered
>  medicating them for foul brood - late though it may be - but this doesn't
> seem
>  to be foul brood disease.
>
   My primary means of dealing with such bees is requeening, with a cell from
my own vigorous stock, or a purchased mated queen. It usually cleans right
up, if it is not too late in the season. I doubt if terra would make any
difference, unless you have european foulbrood, which is another thought that
crossed my mind. With EFB, the larva dies in a curved position, not quite so
flat and centered on the bottom of the cell, and of course, doesn't string. I
have seen EFB, chalkbrood and sacbrood, all in the same hive, in different
cells (what else could better tell you that it is weak stock!).  EFB is not
common, but pops up now and then. Antibiotic would "cure" it, but you still
have susceptible bees, so I'd requeen also.

[log in to unmask]     Dave Green  Hemingway, SC  USA
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