# Whats this crap on top of the frames



## johnblagg (May 15, 2011)

is is sticky and gummy- propolis....


----------



## Daniel Wasson (Jun 2, 2010)

I think you called it right in your opening stated question. "Crap" from the looks of it. Are you feeding? What are you feeding? Could be Dysentery or could be Nosema. Your bees should be tested at the least for which it is.


----------



## megank (Mar 28, 2006)

Looks like little bits of old recycled wax mixed with propolis to me.


----------



## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

Is it water soluble? If yes it's probably (a) crap if no it's probably (b) wax/propolis. I vote B.


----------



## Daniel Wasson (Jun 2, 2010)

Are we looking at the same picture(s) I suppose it could be wax and/or propolis but I haven't experienced those substances being deposited in quite the way that looks to me. If looks as if it is mostly above the brood nest, which looks to be mainly on the left side of the picture. The lighter tan spots in the lower left corner looks to be fresher feces and the darker stuff looks older. Maybe I need a new monitor or video card.

As well, I just got through looking at a hive about a month ago that had Nosema spore counts up over 8 million. The inside of that hive, and the top bars looked nearly identical to the two pictures above.


----------



## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

Beeswax/propolis, I've seen it that way on many occasions.


----------



## wdcrkapry205 (Feb 11, 2010)

Bees don't poop piles that big.


----------



## Daniel Wasson (Jun 2, 2010)

Wana bet? I have some pictures of the hive I mentioned in my last reply. Will see if I can dig them out and you can see some piles that will make you cringe. 

While I look for those pictures; To be clear I am not diagnosing this as certainly being anything in particular, simply suggesting with it looks like to me. There is not enough information past the pictures to say anything for certain. 

Based on the way the pictures look to me, the condition of the equipment, that it was a cut out and apparently queen issues came with the bees; If it were as suggested by David LaFerney, water soluable, I would be collecting bees and getting out the microscope.


----------



## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

The bees had dysentery


----------



## wdcrkapry205 (Feb 11, 2010)

Michael Palmer said:


> The bees had dysentery


Michael, are you talking about Daniel's bees or D Semple's bees. Bee poop is usually thin and watery and will spread out to a fair size puddle but I have never seen it pile up an 1/8" high like some of that looks. I could sure be wrong though, I would try what David said.


----------



## D Semple (Jun 18, 2010)

Checked yesterday evening it's not water soluable, so I guess it's propolis and wax residue like many of you have suggested. 

Thanks for all the help,

Don


----------



## Daniel Wasson (Jun 2, 2010)

Well, in this case I am happy to be wrong about what I was thinking I was seeing. I hope they take off well and start growing for you.


----------



## Daniel Wasson (Jun 2, 2010)

Finally, I was able to get a few pictures from the guy that had the problem with Nosema in a package this spring. I wanted to follow up on this thread so that those who think bees "can't poop that big" can see that they can, and do.

Having never done it, I am not sure if I can, but there is a powerpoint with many more pictures and comments I can attach here. If it is possible, and you are interested, let me know how and I will make the attempt.



First pic is a bee that was in the wrong place, at the wrong time among her sick sisters.



These two are obvious signs of distressed bees.





First Test on May 3rd
Weight 0.10 grams per bee
pH was 6.60
Nosema spores were 8,400,000

Second Test on May 18th
Weight 0.12 grams per bee
pH was 5.45
Nosema spores were 5,850,000

What helped with the survival of this colony;

The sun
Fresh warm air
Essential oils
Thymol
Tea Tree
Lemmon Grass
Eucalyptus


----------



## wdcrkapry205 (Feb 11, 2010)

I'm amazed they survived without giving them 3 or 4 frames of brood.....


----------



## Daniel Wasson (Jun 2, 2010)

Yea, the guy that owned them told me that they eventually did die off. They came right straight off the delivery truck looking like that. With the wet and cold year we have had I am surprised I didn't hear of more people around here with the same problems. 

Since this package was obviously sick they became an experiment in a hospital yard. Opening them up to the sun, and the addition of essential oils were really bringing them around. Some brood injections would have probably saved them. Better weather and brood injections would have certainly saved them.


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Looks like propolis. Sometimes there is wax mixed in.


----------

