chalkbrood

[Kathyp]

i have 3 year old hive that has had chalkbrood all 3 year.  i have kept them and played around with them thinking that maybe i'd figure out how to 'cure' them :-).

i have 1. requeened twice.  once with a purchased queen, and once letting them raise their own. 2. ventilated 3. used tea tree oil  4. raised the temp by not ventilating and keeping bottom closed. 

almost lost them to starvation this spring when we in the PNW had such a nasty spring.  combined a small swarm with them to try to keep numbers up.  knocked them down to one box.

any other experiments i can try with them?  i am not really trying to save them, but thought as long as i had them, i'd try to learn.

[Scadsobees]

I've heard that vinegar is bad for chalkbrood (good for the bees).  Fogged or fed.  But haven't done the research.

Sunlight?  Moisture can be a problem, so more sun is better.

I had a hive with a riproaring case that I requeened, and now all seems better now.  We'll see come spring.

Rick

[BjornBee]

Chalkbrood is considered a stress disease. Wet cool springs, hives in shade, moisture concerns, and even other problems that cause bees to have a suppressed immune system all come into play.

I also think that these stress diseases such as chalk, SAC, and others are directly related to genetics.

Some bees have constant high chalkbrood levels, but stay ahead of it, or keep it suppressed. But when nuc building in the spring, one can see frames of chalk breakout in frames taken from a normally healthy looking hive. What made the nuc have obvious problems not seen in the parent colony? It could be an imbalance of nurse/housebees to stay ahead of the outbreak, or perhaps even a stressed colony as a whole thus effecting everything from chores to suppressed immune systems.

Requeening from the parent colony does not really count as changing the genetics. And you could of just gotten another queen with questionable genetics.

Personally, I would make sure the hive is in full sun, change the genetics with a hygienic strain, and rotate out any obvious fully affected combs to get them over the hump.

And let the hive deal with it on their own schedule...meaning no box swapping, checkerboarding or other high stress beekeeper manipulations come next spring.

[Kathyp]

i allowed them to requeen themselves after i gave up on trying to save them  :-).  i did use eggs from a strong hive i'd gotten from a removal earlier in the year.  it was after the starvation thing and they'd lost the queen they had.

guess i was just wondering if i had missed some treatment or manipulation.  i intend now to leave them alone and see what happens.  kind of sad.  both queens were great layers and had good patterns.  the hive just couldn't seem to build up and overcome the disease.

[ikeepbees]

Bjorn pointed out the most important issues in my opinion. That being said I had a strong colony in full sun start showing the classic signs of chalkbrood this Spring. It was a split made in March (I make mine strong) and by the end of June was a buster of a colony, but with mummies on the front porch.

I rotated all the brood comb out and disposed of it (burned), and it is still doing ok with no more chalk evident. Even so, next Spring I will remove ALL the comb and burn it, and let them start anew with a few clean combs and foundation. This is probably extreme and possibly unnecessary, but it's just the way I deal with chalk.

I don't intend to change the genetics at this point, because this colony probably contracted the chalk from one of its parent colonies and the split is a high stress event. If it comes down with it again - that's a different story.