I've been using sticky boards for years and have never seen anything
like this; the attached photo is of the sticky board of my weakest
hive, so I could show the larvae clearly with a minimum of debris.

I of course wondered if they could be larvae of SHB or wax moth,
but they don't look wormlike the way photos of those do.  I'm no
entomologist, but those look to me like C-shaped bee larvae.  The
largest is about 12mm long.  The black or grey ones are, I believe,
chalkbrood victims - I've had a persistent case of chalkbrood in my
"apiary" (back yard) for two summers now.  :-(

Meanwhile, all three of my hives have these larvae on the sticky
board three days after the start of FormicPro treatment.  Most of
the larvae are plump and shiny; some are still moving and respond
to the touch.  They are all found under the brood nest, in lines
corresponding to the spaces between the frames, which is another clue
(in my opinion) that these are bee larvae and not those of some pest.

There's no way those larvae fit through the screened bottom, and it
would beggar belief that all three hives suddenly have broken bottom
screens.  I assume that these larvae were removed by the nurses
and fell through when very small, but if so, how could they grow
to such sizes?  Could nurses have been feeding them through the screen?
In the case of all three hives, I had difficulty sliding out the
Apinovar drawer, and the sticky board stayed under the hive, and had
to be pulled out directly; that's really unusual.  Usually the sticky
board lies flat in the drawer and comes out easily with the drawer.

Has anyone seen anything like this?  Am I correct that those are bee
larvae?

And on a side note, last year I looked up chalkbrood in all of my
half-dozen or so beekeeping textbooks, and found nothing terribly
useful: happens when Spring is cool and damp, should resolve itself
as weather warms; one source says requeen if it persists (been there
done that).  These hives are on a concrete patio and well off the
ground, in my usual location that worked well from 2014 to last year;
I have no reason to believe there's excessive humidity.  If anyone
on this list has advice on getting rid of chalkbrood, please let me know.


Anne, very puzzled backyard beekeeper, Montreal.

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