# Guanine Deposits



## poppy1 (Feb 1, 2013)

So I was checking some of my brood comb from a recent hive that went from booming to 500 bees and a queen now this hive was in a double deep with a super and just suddenly went downhill. I do keep a very good check on my hives so they weren't neglected for a long period of time. With regard to the "guanine deposits" will that stuff fall out of the cells or does it remain stuck? The reason for my question is that I had a large amount of what appears to actually be tiny pieces of wax in some of the brood cells however there was a lot of cells that had tiny white specks in those cells too, so what exactly does the deposits appear to look like color wise?

thanks a lot


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## squarepeg (Jul 9, 2010)

http://scientificbeekeeping.com/scibeeimages/Fig32.jpg

from: http://scientificbeekeeping.com/sick-bees-part-6-infection-by-multiple-viruses/

they are whitish and can vary in size from a small speck to what might look like a small piece of wax. some the debris you are seeing may be what is left after the remains of the dead brood was removed from the cells.

are you seeing the guanine in most of the cells on most of the frames? if so you likely had a heavy mite infestation associated with virulent virus(es).


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## JWChesnut (Jul 31, 2013)

It stays stuck.
Use a *cheap black light*, guanine, like most proteins, fluoresces very strongly. 
Note that AFB scales also fluoresce, guanine can be found on the "ceilings" instead of the floor so look up from the bottom.

Once you have learned to ID the protein, you can dispense with the blacklight. Note that wax absorbs UV, and does not fluoresce.


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Here's a picture.


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