# Wet Pollen? Foul brood? Overactive imagination?



## 0verdrive (Nov 2, 2016)

This is my first year beekeeping. I started out with two hives, both of which swarmed over the summer. I caught the swarms, and am now trying to get my 4 (weak) hives ready for winter.

While I was inspecting my hives, I found that there is no brood in 2 of the hives. In those hives, I do have what looks like wet (shiny) pollen in the middle of the brood comb. It may be normal pollen that in my heightened concern I've imagined as foul brood, but thought I'd ask. Many of the cells seem to be textured, and look almost like you can see larvae underneath. I've circled a few examples. 








Am I imagining things, and it's just pollen? 
Or perhaps larvae with a bunch of royal jelly, and the bees are trying for an emergency supercedure? 
Or are the larvae browning and liquifying? I didn't try the sticky goo test - should I? 

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks,
~Dean


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Pollen with maybe a little nectar put on top.


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

There is no disease you can tell by looking at pollen in cells. For most diseases you need to see capped and open brood. Foul brood hives often have very little pollen and nectar but not always.

Your pollen stores look normal. There does seem to be a lack of bees.


>I found that there is no brood in 2 of the hives.

When was the last time they had brood? This time of the year it can be very difficult to access if they are queenless or not. There is also nothing you can do if they are, there is a slim chance you can crush your queen with no way for them to make another. Many hives slow down or stop raising brood altogether. It's late in the season and best to stay out of the hive. Pick up one end to access their weight and feed if needed. In Nov place sugar blocks on the top bars for insurance.


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## Baja (Oct 11, 2012)

Though your photo is not clear it looks like developing larvae to me. New beekeepers tend to overreact but here is what to look for: The characteristic disease signs of AFB include some or all of the following:

Uneven or 'Pepper-pot' brood pattern;
Sunken, greasy or perforated, darkened cell cappings;
Roping, sticky larval remains when drawn out with a matchstick;
Dark "scales", which are difficult to remove from cells.

Symptoms of EFB
An infected colony may show some or all of the signs below:
Erratic or uneven brood pattern;
Twisted larvae with creamy-white guts visible through the body wall;
Melted down, yellowy white larvae;
An unpleasant sour odour;
Loosely-attached brown scales;
Unlike AFB, the remains of larvae that die from EFB do not rope when drawn out with a matchstick.

Check out this website (http://www.thebeemd.com/) and if you think you might have foulbrood do the sticky goo test but remember new beekeepers overreact. EFB is not a death sentence and with AFB you can do a Shook Swarm http://capabees.org/content/uploads/2013/02/shaking.pdf . My best recommendation to new beekeepers is to wait a week and check again. Good luck.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

0verdrive said:


> Am I imagining things, and it's just pollen?


Yes to both.

What kind of hive is it? Seems like a very small frame.

I suspect the hive has issues, based on the state of the pollen, but no foulbrood is shown in the pic.


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