Gordon Hayes wrote:

>What I did find in most of the dead hives on at least two frames each
>puzzled me as a fairly new beekeeper. I found clusters of what appeared =
>to be white eggs about the size of the end of a number 2 lead pencil =
>scatted over the frames and in the cells. Have you ever had an =
>experience with this phenomenon? If so what is it's cause?

Could the 'eggs' be the pupal cases of the tiny flies that sometimes
live on the dead remains of bees in colonies that have died-out? These
are very common here in the UK. Where the dead bees in the cluster have
not yet dried out, the fly larvae  -looking like tiny maggots- may also
be present. The adult flies don't seem to remain in the hive.

James

--
___________________________________________________________________________
James Morton

South-Eastern Regional Bee Inspector
Central Science Laboratory
National Bee Unit
Tel/fax: +44(0)20 8571 6450
Mobile:  07719 924 418
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Web: http://www.csl.gov.uk
Address: 'Geertje', Canal Lock 92, Windmill Lane, Southall, Middx, UB2
4NH
___________________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer
The information contained  in this message may include privileged,
proprietary or confidential information. Please treat it with the same
respect that you would expect for your own information.  If you have
received it in error, we apologise, and ask that you contact the CSL
sender immediately and erase it from your computer. Thank you for your
co-operation.

Further information on confidentiality of our communications, can be
found at http://www.csl.gov.uk/email.htm