>  In the case of waxworm in brood,,,
>Are waxworm responsible for uncapping the cells or the bees?
>I have heard some say that it is hygienic bees going after the worm, but I
>often still discover a worm under the cappings near the uncapped portion
>of cells. So this suggests to me that hygenic behavior is perhaps not
>responsible for the uncapping.
>Joe


 >>Some colonies seem to allow waxmoth a free run of the brood nest, 
whereas others remove them. I have always thought that tolerance of 
wax moth is a good measure of the hygienic behaviour of a colony -
Peter Edwards<<

It suggest to me that your colony is not very hygienic. I see tow 
examples in my colonies.

In the first, the worm burrows along and just below the surface of 
the brood caps. You can see the web tunnel. Perhaps the worm has 
eaten the caps? There seems to be no attempt by the bees to remove 
the worm...until you run your hive tool along the tunnel. When the 
worm pops out, the bees go for it.

In the second, the bees have uncapped the brood leaving what some 
call bald brood. The worm is often gone in this case.

I would say the former is not hygienic, while the latter is.
Mike

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