White Crust on Bee Bread. What is it? (Photo)

Hemlock · November 03, 2009, 01:10:16 AM

Can someone tell me what I am looking at. I search the forum but could not find an answer. Some sort of crust on top of the bee bread. I know I don't like the look of it.

BeeHopper · November 03, 2009, 08:24:15 AM

A very good question :-D I've seen in my hives since getting started back in 2006 and never really gave it any thought, my guess : this is Bee Bread when it is done fermenting, a by-product of yeast ( poop or dead cultures ) :?

deknow · November 03, 2009, 08:55:59 AM

that is something i've not seen.

my first guess would be crystalized honey (or sugar if you are feeding sugar), as they often cap over the top of beebread with honey.

i'd taste it. if it doesn't taste like sugar/honey and no one comes up with a satisfactory answer based on the photo here, i'll ask around.

beehopper, don't forget that yeast is only active in beebread for the first 24 hours or so after being collected...after that the medium becomes too acidic for yeasts and molds.

deknow

Scadsobees · November 03, 2009, 09:07:20 AM

I'd say it is some type of mold. Mold of some sort can grow just about anywhere, acidic or not.

It shouldn't hurt, if the bees think it is bad then they'll clean it out and dump it. If it is good they'll still use it. They can handle it fine no matter what it is. Don't worry about it and keep it cool.

I just wouldn't munch on it myself... :roll:

Rick

BeeHopper · November 03, 2009, 09:11:02 AM

Quote from: deknow on November 03, 2009, 08:55:59 AM
that is something i've not seen.

my first guess would be crystalized honey (or sugar if you are feeding sugar), as they often cap over the top of beebread with honey.

i'd taste it. if it doesn't taste like sugar/honey and no one comes up with a satisfactory answer based on the photo here, i'll ask around.

beehopper, don't forget that yeast is only active in beebread for the first 24 hours or so after being collected...after that the medium becomes too acidic for yeasts and molds.

deknow

Got it :-D

TwT · November 03, 2009, 09:11:29 AM

ha, you don't powder sugar your hive for mites do you. if not then it does look like some kind of mold to me( probably for yeast), it probably doesn't hurt a thing though or the bee's would have cleaned it up.

David LaFerney · November 03, 2009, 09:28:56 AM

My bees have been bringing in white pollen. I haven't done an inspection in several weeks so I don't know if it looks like that or not once it is stored.

G3farms · November 03, 2009, 08:06:14 PM

That looks like some kind of mold to me also,

But I will also agree with David, my bees have been bringing in white and gray pollen for the last couple of weeks, not sure what it is off of.

G3

bee-nuts · November 04, 2009, 02:57:15 AM

Im no mold expert but mold should spread in a even manner. I see some cells completely covered but the cell surrounding them have nothing. Maybe its just pollen.

Hemlock · November 04, 2009, 10:22:00 AM

Pollen. Sounds good to me. They'll be flying today so I can go down and watch them to see what they're bringing in. I tried to search for white pollen producing plants but no luck. There must be a list somewhere detailing the pollen color of major plants.

BenC · November 05, 2009, 06:21:15 PM

Here's a page with a few colors...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollen_source

Hemlock · November 06, 2009, 09:26:01 PM

@ BenC,

Thank you. Whats amazing to me is all the Spring flowers that have bloomed recently. Dogwood, Yucca, & Queen Ann's Lace. Plus we've been getting some late swarms. What a goofy year.

Again Thanks. aun Aprendo.