# Brood cappings color



## power napper (Apr 2, 2005)

When looking at frames with capped brood the color of the cappings is always a rusty brown look. I have never read anywhere what the reason is for this color.
The capped brood resembles a sheet of sandpaper for lack of a better description. 
I am talking about normal healthy brood frames.
Can anyone tell me the reason why a frame of brood is this color?
Thanks


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## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

I would say either use of older wax or travel stains.


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## newbee 101 (May 26, 2004)

yup, thousands of dirty little feet..


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## George Fergusson (May 19, 2005)

I think it's from the reuse of old wax, not travel stains. With new or relatively new comb the color of new cappings is invariably light-yellow colored to start with and never appreciably darkens from travel stain in the 2 weeks or so they remain in place, from what I've seen. On old dark brood comb, the capping color is invariably much darker to begin with, and the darker the comb the darker the cappings. Since bees don't produce new dark wax, I believe the bees for the most part are utilizing the existing comb for capping brood- stretching and spreading it, perhaps augmenting it with a little extra wax, either newly exuded or from somewhere else.


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## samak (Sep 15, 2006)

power napper said:


> When looking at frames with capped brood the color of the cappings is always a rusty brown look. I have never read anywhere what the reason is for this color.


I think I read somewhere that the reason for this is that the bees mix a little propolis with the brood cappings. Even if you look at brand new comb, you will see the brand new brood cappings are always a little darker than the honey cappings which appear white.


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## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

George:

I would have to say that travel stains could play a part in it. That is why when people to comb honey, they say remove it quickly after iti s capped or it will darken do to travel stains


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## naturebee (Dec 25, 2004)

power napper said:


> When looking at frames with capped brood the color of the cappings is always a rusty brown look. I have never read anywhere what the reason is for this color.
> The capped brood resembles a sheet of sandpaper for lack of a better description.
> I am talking about normal healthy brood frames.
> Can anyone tell me the reason why a frame of brood is this color?
> Thanks


Not too sure about it being travel stain, not with brood cappings only "days old". They are NOT weeks as found in some travel stained honey cappings. So this rules out travel stains as the cause of rusty brown cappings.

The color of brood cappings would depend on the amount of pollen, wax and recycled material in the cappings. Some strains may use pollen wax and more recycled material and the cappings will appear darker, some less and cappings appear lighter. 

Honey cappings are made with nearly 100% bees wax and therfore apear white, and subject to easily detectable travel staining on the white caps.

Brood cappings are dark due to different materials being used.

Langstroth wrote in 1905
“The caps of the brood-cells, made of pollen and wax, are 
undoubtedly porous enough to allow the air to reach the 
larva.” (Langstroth, Hive and the Honeybee) 

So all healthy brood cappings being porous should appear dull and not shiny. A shiny appearance might be suggestive of brood disease or other problems. 

Joe Waggle ~ Derry, PA 
‘Bees Gone Wild Apiaries' 
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HistoricalHoneybeeArticles
FeralBeeProject.com


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## suprstakr (Feb 10, 2006)

as a new-bee i observed , even starting with starter strips and a three pound package of bees the brood capping was golden brown and i had no old wax anywhere . so maybe they mix polen with wax for capping.


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## George Fergusson (May 19, 2005)

I think Joe has it about right. Light comb, light cappings; dark comb, dark cappings. I've never seen light cappings on dark comb or excessively dark cappings on light comb. Travel stain isn't at work here. I'll have to examine some brood cappings under a microscope and see what I can see.


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## ndemik (Jun 26, 2006)

My suspicion is that the bees use wood fibers in addition to wax when capping the brood, and this is what causes the darker color. Other hymenoptera, such as the Polistes paper-wasp harvest wood fibers which they mix with saliva to make their open-air nests. I can tell from my observation hive that the brood cappings are dark brown from the very beginning, they do not start out pale like the honey cappings. Also, have you ever noticed bees 'scraping' the outside of the hive with their front legs? They are also doing this inside the hive along the wooden frames. At first I thought it was a cleaning behavior, but now I am thinking they are collecting wood fibers for papering over the open brood. I am not sure what type of metabolism is going on during the pupal stage, but it might be that having a more breathable paper cap is better than the less porous pure wax used for capping honey.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

I don't know either why the color variance, but when foundation is drawn and brood raised in it, the first time the cells are capped I find them virtually white or yellow if the new comb is yellow. It is interesting to think about. Maybe they do mix garbage be it wood fiber, cocoons from the last brood cycle or just scraps of this and that gathered in cleaning.


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