Doesn't sound like foul brood to me.  With foul brood there is a brown
smelly soup in place of the larva and that's what's stringy.  If you have
white well-defined larvae they sound healthy with the exception of the mite
problem.
 
On the subject of finding eggs, It's hard to do until you've done it once.
They're tiny and in light colored comb they're well camoflouged.  Eyesight
and lighting are important.  Once you've seen eggs and know exactly what
you're looking for it's a little easier.  The tiny brood you describe
sounds encouraging, indicating that there has been laying done within the
past 2-4 days.
 
Finding eggs is an absolutely essential skill for new beekeepers to master.
 In my opinion it is the most basic mandatory inspection task.   I always
look for eggs when I open a box.   The reason finding eggs is important is
that a good pattern of eggs is proof that your queen was present and laying
within the past day or so.  I rarely take the time to find a queen if there
is a good egg pattern.  And if there isn't, then I have good reason to hunt
her down.  The very first thing I teach my 4-H kids about inspecting a hive
is how to find eggs and why it's important.  I have gone a whole season
without seeing the queen in some hives but remained confident in her
presence and health because the egg pattern was always well configured and
extensively developed.   Finding the queen is sometimes necessary, but can
be time consuming and frustrating.  And you still need to find eggs to know
she is doing well.
 
If neccesary, get some strong cheap reading glasses and let them lay in the
bottom of your veil under your chin until you are ready to look for eggs.
Then you can grasp them through the netting and put them on for a moment to
look at the cells and then drop them back into the folds of the veil.  (I
resorted to this just this year.  It's a sign of middle age I guess.)
Michael
----------
> From: Elizabeth M. Bowles <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: desease
> Date: Tuesday, September 09, 1997 2:20 PM
>
> More of the possible missing queen story....... I looked and it appears
> that there is fresh larva,(very small) but not standing on end like some
> had mentioned, but rather just tiny little curled around larva in the
> bottom of many cells.  Mabey I just could not see well enough to see
fresh
> eggs.  This was in the box that the original queen was in and mabey still
> in.
>
> Now, in the box 2 above that one there is the oversized cells with large
> larva.  Per Dr. R's advise I check to see if they were large with red
eyes
> by picking them out.  Well........ a few just popped out and did not
appear
> to have red eyes, I do believe there were a few mites in them though.
> But..... most of them were a gooyee mesh that was kind of stringy and
this
> made me worried about AFB.  The cells did not look like those in my
books.
> they looked well put together, just big.
>
> I'm thinking of just trashing the top box and trying to save the bottom
> two.....Please help!  Have I come this far to loose my hive?  Beekeeping
is
> my relaxation in this busy life I live.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Elizabeth M. Bowles
> [log in to unmask]
> Missouri, USA