Perhaps you've seen deadouts before with piles of yellow-orange powder
(looks like curry powder) on the bottom board and sifting down the combs.
These critters are responsible:
http://www.sweettimeapiary.com/pics/pollen_bugs.jpg
I apologize for the photo- I'm not setup for taking pictures through a
microscope. It's about 50x magnification and shows the interior of a single
honey comb cell- you can see the cell outline.
These critters are really small. There were probably a hundred of them in
the cell, crawling around. They wouldn't stand a chance in a hive with bees
so I wouldn't consider them a threat at all. On the contrary, they seem to
be nature's way of making sure good protein doesn't go to waste.
Just curious- does anyone know anything about them?
George-
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