My hive is surviving the winter well & I know they're getting out because there's diarrha on the front of the hive. I gave them some pollen patties today & noticed a lot of poo inside the hive, on the frames & comb.
Do I need to try & clean this up or will they do it later as it gets warmer outside? It's only in the 30's today & I just popped the top to add the patties but I heard some angy buzzing! It's yucky in side.
Also, I have some frames from the hive that died & I cleaned out the dead bees but there's diarrhea on these frames too. How to clean these before I use them with my new packages of bees?
Thanks for your help! Flygirl
Diarrhea in the hive is from Nosema disease, a fungal infection in the midgut. Nosema Apis is the old one, but now we have a new one is Nosema Ceranae, which seems to be worse. Treat with Tea Tree Oil in sugar water or treat with Fumagilin, or do a search and see what others are using with doseage.
Dysentery is just a sign they have been cooped up for a while. It MAY be Nosema. It may NOT be Nosema. If they have been cooped up a while before you see it it's pretty normal.
Thanks for the replies. Yes, they've been cooped up for months & it's just now starting to warm up into the 30's during the day ~ still to cool for them to get out ~ I think? I used honey bee healthy in the sugar water when I made the patties. I have Fumagilin but I'd prefer to not use it.
I'm concerned about the frames & comb in the frames & if I need to clean these before I use them again?
Thank you ~ FG
any pictures? can't say as I have seen bee's with the scoots.....