WHAT DID I FIND IN MY HIVE?

artsie26 · April 16, 2009, 12:50:32 PM

I only have 1 hive....It didn't make the winter. I'll be getting a pkg. next Friday, so I went out today to see what kind of mess is left in the hive, and found tiny white dots inside the cells....they are smaller than the rice size eggs that you would find normally, and there's a bunch of them in each cell, almost filling it up. I hope this isn't a big problem....Thanks in advance for any advice.
artsie

iddee · April 16, 2009, 01:03:24 PM

Did you feed the hive sugar water last fall?
Are they the size of crystallized sugar?

Scadsobees · April 16, 2009, 01:04:57 PM

Hmm...almost filling the cells? Sounds like sugar from crystalized honey. You can taste it to see. The bees will clean that all up fine, either using it or hauling it out.

Either that or varroa poop :) but that is one tiny white dot at the bottom of the cells.

Rick

artsie26 · April 16, 2009, 01:17:38 PM

Yes, I did feed them some sugar water from a hive top feeder. And come to think of it during the summer-fall I would walk near the hive and smell vinegar....My husband and kids never noticed it and thought I was crazy, but I could smell it....I never noticed any thing wrong inside the hive, and didn't smell it while inside the hive....I think the honey smell took over then.

Scadsobees · April 16, 2009, 01:23:31 PM

What you smelled in the fall was likely goldenrod/aster nectar being cured...it don't smell so good - sour. It'll stink up my whole yard. It also crystallizes fairly quickly.

Rick

artsie26 · April 16, 2009, 01:29:02 PM

So should I put in my new bees with this stuff or replace the foundation in the frames that have it? I know the bees will clean up pretty good themselves, but I don't want to start them out on the wrong foot.
artsie

iddee · April 16, 2009, 01:41:45 PM

It is good bee feed. Use it.

artsie26 · April 16, 2009, 04:42:53 PM

Thank you all for getting back to me so fast, and with great info....yes the white stuff did taste sweet ( I was so afraid to taste it, I was gonna bribe one of my kids, but I figured I could handle it). I can't wait to bombard you with all the questions I'll be asking in the near future.
Have a great day!!!!
artsie

dpence · April 16, 2009, 05:22:28 PM

Quote from: Scadsobees on April 16, 2009, 01:23:31 PM
What you smelled in the fall was likely goldenrod/aster nectar being cured...it don't smell so good - sour. It'll stink up my whole yard. It also crystallizes fairly quickly.

Rick

Indeed that is a peculiar smell. But a good thing for the bees.

TwT · April 16, 2009, 10:15:00 PM

aster and golden rod honey smells like old socks but when it is cured it has a different taste, I like it, heard of some people that all they want is fall honey from these plants....

artsie26 · April 16, 2009, 11:22:30 PM

I'm glad the smell is nothing to worry about..........it was awful....like something fermenting. I thought for sure I'd open the hive and find something rotting inside. I can't wait to see if it happens again this year...at least I won't be worried about it now.
Is there any sort of smell that could be something serious to worry about?
artsie

doak · April 17, 2009, 12:48:59 AM

Take the frames out one by one to make sure you don't have a wax moth infestation.
If the foundation is clean and is not "webbed up".
Wax moth larva leave a webbing. :)doak

Scadsobees · April 17, 2009, 09:45:06 AM

Quote from: TwT on April 16, 2009, 10:15:00 PM
aster and golden rod honey smells like old socks but when it is cured it has a different taste, I like it, heard of some people that all they want is fall honey from these plants....

Well, I pulled some one year, and it smelled of old socks. When I tasted it, it had a very special tastes, an infused honey flavor. As if the honey had been infused with old socks.

artsie26 · April 17, 2009, 11:19:28 AM

Rick- there just might be a market for that....it's amazing what some people eat, and what they pay for it :-D