Sunday, June 1, 2014

Debris on the sticky board

Yesterday I took out the sticky boards to count the mites.  The results were overall good.  #1, 7, #2, 20 and #3, 9.  That is fewer than 10 mites a day and does not warrant treatment now.  According to the Beebase calculator, I should treat #2 in about a month and the others in about two months.  Of course, I will do another count before treating.
There seemed to be much less debris on all the boards than I usually see.  These are the three (home-made) sticky boards together.  In the past there has been debris all across the boards.  I'm not certain how to interpret this.  At first I thought that the boards had been scraped while being removed, but careful forensic inspection uncovered to tell-tale marks.
The debris conains lots of chewed wax, some wax flakes, pollen balls and pieces of bees.  I had also often seen these:
I had wondered what they were, so did a bit of a google search.  What I found out was not encouraging- wax moth worm poop!  Since I have seen no damage to the comb, I assume the girls have this pest under control.  I have often found wax moth larvae or their webbed tunnels in the thick piles of debris that accumulate in the trays, but since these are beneath the screen, I have'nt worried.
I also saw some new (to me) debris in the tray of #1 when I cleaned it out and again on the sticky board:
These look like thin cups.  Above shows one curved up and the other down.  It seems that these are the top of drone cell pupa cases.
Finally, one more picture of why we have sticky boards at all:
I visited Bruce and Gregg's hive yesterday.  While watching the queen, we saw her lay two eggs, a first time and thrilling experience.







No comments:

Post a Comment