# dead brood in cells



## Lucy (Sep 12, 2010)

I have a hive that wintered over, I thought. While checking hive, this very wet spring, I am finding most of the bees have died in the colony, lying on the screened bottom board. There is spotty brood pattern with dead, fully developed bees in the cells, some have started to scrape off top to come out, but died in cell. The remaining bees have left the corpses in the cells and are bringing in nectar and pollen and filling cells around them. Currently I have installed a new mated queen, I am finding eggs and smooth brood pattern. I treated for mites with Hopguard strips 10 days ago. Today I combined this weak hive with a queenless hive, even tho I really don't know what disease/parasite I'm looking at. I don't see mites on the bees, I don't see K wings, I don't see mites in the cells I have opened, but there are mites on the bottom board. I know I may be passing around disease from 1yr old failing hive to new package hive (missing queen), but they both needed help. Do mites cause bees to die in their cells before they come out?


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## Riverratbees (Feb 10, 2010)

Lucy I do know that they will kill drones in the cell but I don't know about the brood. Saying that I don't see why they wouldn't kill the brood to. One ? missing queen do you have a live queen in the hive or not? kinda confuseing the way you said that.


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## Lucy (Sep 12, 2010)

I purchased a new queen when I saw the spotty brood pattern. I haven't seen new queen, but I do see new solid areas of brood and new eggs. The 2nd hive (new package) apparently lost it's queen because I found 6 supersedure cells split up between two frames. I may have done her in during frame manipulations, for all I know. I combined low population hive (with new queen) with new package hive (with no queen) using newspaper between the boxes. I pulled out a frame with the dead spotty brood in it and I'll be taking it to bee class this Friday. I'm just an anxious new beekeeper, going into my second year. Thanks.


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## Riverratbees (Feb 10, 2010)

Well if you have brood in one and supercedure cells in the other I wouldn't worry unless you wanted to speed things up by purchaseing another queen. Just keep a eye on your cells and any cell that is capped before 9 days destroy and let the chips fall where they are.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Yes mites will kill brood, it's called pms (parasitic mite syndrome). The dead adult larvae you see were weakened by having more than one mite go in the cell with them, and suck them till they are so weak they cannot hatch. You'll sometimes see them 1/2 out, dead, with their tongues pointing out. Once it's that bad you have a serious problem.

Try googling something like "varroa pms".


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## Lucy (Sep 12, 2010)

Thanks for the info. The frames are spotty like photo's of AFB, and the dead bees are pretty much fully developed and there is no smell. Symptoms do seem to match "varroa pms". I've got hygienic queens ordered for later this summer. Hope to have enough bees left for them.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Sounds pretty advanced and your hive may not have much time left. You could consider treating with something like MAQS, which fumigates the varroa with formic acid, a volatile chemical that evaporates and leaves no long term residues in the hive.

Only other thing, did you check food stores? Starvation can cause dead brood also.


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