# Yeast smell coming from hive



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

You'll have to look inside to be sure, but, it could be fermenting syrup. It could be something rotting in thre beetle traps.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

A 'yeast smell' might be fermenting honey....from a small hive beetle infestation.
Or it might be the smell of goldenrod honey curing.
It sounds like an inside the hive inspection is in order.
You will also want to do a follow up/post treatment mite count. Apistan resistant mites are common.


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## keeper (Jan 29, 2012)

Hive beetle infestation in Massachusetts? I am going to make two assumptions from that.
1st this is a first year hive
2nd it was started from a Nuc which was brought north from down South by the supplier you purchased it from.

Scratch that Supplier off of your list for next season when you need to replace this hive. 

Pull every frame that the bees are not using and freeze it, even if it has stores in it. You can put them back in the hive after you kill the shb larva. 

I would not describe goldenrod as a "yeast" smell, it is more like old socks.. Yeast smell almost exclusively suggest fermentation due to SHB, especially when the presence of SHB is noted.


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## DamSutt1986 (May 26, 2012)

Most likely the syrup that you're feeding has fermented. I assume it's been relatively sunny there for the last week or so, it could have fermented in 2-3 days in the nice weather. Especially if you're not completely washing the jar or feeder between refills. They will take fermented syrup, too.


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## capebee (Mar 5, 2012)

Hi all.... thank you for the replies.
The smell was noted before any steps were taken as far as the SHB traps or the Api Stan....and before we started feeding.
Also.... as noted previously, the honey was extracted from the top 4 supers prior to smelling the "smell"....and that honey tastes
really good .... so I'm thinking maybe the stores of honey in the deeps maybe is "bad" somehow from the SHB.... is there a way 
I can investigate that further? Thanks again. Also.... Keeper, yes this is a first year hive, (my first year as a Beek) and the package 
was purchased this past April from South Carolina or Georgia.... (can't remember which).


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

No matter what is causing a smell you describe a yeasty you will have to look and see if everything is as it should be. So, get into your hive and check the state of the brood and the frames of honey. You could havew a smell which causes youi concern and still have nothing wrong w/ the hive and colony.

Goldenrod is over here. I suspect it is in MA also. But, I guess the odor could still be hanging on. Though, usuyally I believe, the odor of goldenrod occurs when the nectar is ripening and disipates after capping.


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## keeper (Jan 29, 2012)

Was it a Package of bees or a 5 frame nuc?

It would be really rare for a package to have a SHB problem. Packages are produced by professional Companies who have a reputation to maintain. They usually would not over look a SHB problem. A Southern Nuc on the other hand is going to have SHB present and any beekeeper can produce a Nuc. 

SHBs usually don't last long in New England, the soil isn't conducive to there pupation. The case may be different on the Cape though given it's proximity to the ocean. 

How sandy is the soil under your hive?


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## Katharina (May 2, 2011)

My hives smell like it each fall when they are making bee bread with their pollen. It is normal. Bees cannot digest pollen as is, they need to ferment it with yeast. You may not notice that when they are feeding their brood, but you will smell it when they are cutting back on brood. My hives smell like a darn brewery and I love it. So check your hives and make sure nothing else is going on, but most likely is it just normal bee bread you smell.


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## waynesgarden (Jan 3, 2009)

Still have the golden rod smell in a lot of hives here in Maine. Takes a while after they're done gathering nectar for it to cure.

Wayne


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

Given the OP's other thread: http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?274340-white-worm-maggots-on-IPM-board
There is likely nothing normal about the smell and several posters have already nailed down the issue.


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

I think you've got it bluegrass. I am also guessing that the original poster has yet to open the hive for an inspection.....otherwise he/she would already have the answer.


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## capebee (Mar 5, 2012)

OP here.... We have in fact opened the hive for inspections over the past several days (twice).... once last week and again this morning.
Today we put the IPM board back under the hive to see if the apistan strips are doing anything for the mites. This was a package of bees....not nuc.
Inside the hive I see (saw) a number of SHB.... and the beetle traps we put in last week (the type you fill with mineral oil and Apple
cider vinegar) have captured a few beetles, but not many. So the question now is, how else can we treat the SHB problem.... Thanks again for all the
responses.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

The board you mention should have been installed before the strips were applied. Was it?

What was the condition of the brood combs? How would you describe the brood pattern? Very many empty cells amongst the capped brood? What about the adult bee population?

Is the smell still present? Is it a strong smell?


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

capebee,
Our small hive beetle problem here is pretty bad. I may see dozens of shb in a hive without there being a problem. But...when I see their larvae in the hive....that sets off alarms. A healthy, vigorous colony of bees will keep the beetles from laying eggs in the brood nest. By the time I see their larvae in the hive....it is often too late. When you said that you saw larvae on your bottom sheet...I figured that your hive was in trouble. Now you are reporting a yeast smell, which, as I stated in my earlier post, is the type of odor that comes from those larvae defecating in your comb and it begins to ferment. You will hear beekeepers refer to this as 'sliming'. It is an appropriate description. Your comb will appear wet (slime) and the hive will smell.
When you did your inhive inspection this morning, did you see any small larvae crawling on the comb? Did you smell the yeast/ferment smell? 

Mark...with regard to the apistan strips...I don't think you need your bottom board closed for that. It is a contact agent, if my memory serves me.

Good luck.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Right you are Dan. But you get the most mite kill in the first 24 hours, so sticking the board in after the mites have died and fallen thru the screen is not a good way to check the efficacy. That's why I wrote what I wrote. I learned that back in 1987.

It's more than just a contact miticide. Kill will occur quite quickly when strips are installed, indicating to me that some fumigation action occurs.

Why is it refered to as an IPM Board?


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## Gypsi (Mar 27, 2011)

Waiting to hear how this all comes out!


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## Acebird (Mar 17, 2011)

capebee, do you know what the rotten socks smell of golden rod is. Last year I had quit a few hive beetles running around the top of the hive and now I do not see any even though I saw live beetles in the spring. However, if you say you see thousands of larvae you probably have a problems. I don't remember seeing over ten beetles at any time last year.


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## camero7 (Sep 21, 2009)

sqkcrk said:


> Goldenrod is over here. I suspect it is in MA also. But, I guess the odor could still be hanging on. Though, usuyally I believe, the odor of goldenrod occurs when the nectar is ripening and disipates after capping.


I still have a goldenrod flow going here.


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## capebee (Mar 5, 2012)

sqkcrk said:


> The board you mention should have been installed before the strips were applied. Was it?
> 
> What was the condition of the brood combs? How would you describe the brood pattern? Very many empty cells amongst the capped brood? What about the adult bee population?
> 
> Is the smell still present? Is it a strong smell?


Again, thanks for the help. The IPM board was installed and evaluated prior to the current treatments being done (SHB traps and Api Stan strips).
It was because of what we saw on the board that prompted us to install the traps and strips. We did go through the hive and the brood patterns
seemed fine.... plenty of brood with capped honey in the upper corners. The first frame in the deep was totally full of capped honey. The smell is still
there and yes, pretty noticeable. My wife identified it as a yeast smell. In the next few days I will again go through the hive and see if I can see anything
that might provide some clues about the smell. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about the SHB, as the traps don't seem to be doing all that much.


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## Gypsi (Mar 27, 2011)

beebread a-baking? If bees have 80% coverage of all frames, the beetles should not be able to lay eggs. The main problem with shb is not the beetles, but the larva. I've had some shb in all my hives for the last month or so (and traps too, and been squishing) but once I got all hives into full sun and got the traps in and examined real estate - counts went down. I also closed up any gaps, reduced entrances further, and got sticky boards with or without oil under my sbb's.


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## jadell (Jun 19, 2011)

I've often wondered why everyone says golden rod smells like dirty socks. You've obviously never smelled my socks! I think it smells more like butterscotch. I wish my socks smelled like butterscotch!


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## beemandan (Dec 5, 2005)

jadell said:


> I think it smells more like butterscotch.


I'm with you on this jadell. We rarely get much but when we do it does smell a bit like butterscotch. It is a strong smell but not offensive to me.


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## capebee (Mar 5, 2012)

Quick update from OP: We just went through the entire hive again, frame by frame. Currently there are two ten frame hive bodies
with an empty hive body over a pail feeder. We didn't see as many SHB as we thought we would.... we did see maybe 8 or 9... which we
took out. We saw 1 maggot type worm. Didn't see the queen but saw quite a bit of uncapped larvae as well as capped brood. One enitre
frame on the outside of the bottom deep was totally capped honey and saw lots of uncapped nectar. We also saw quite a bit of yellow pollen
stuffed in the honey combs, I'm assuming this is golden rod. All in all everything looked okay. Still not sure what the yeast smell is. There were a lot of empty combs...so i'm 
thinking the queen has stopped laying at this point or maybe is gone..... The only other comment i'll make is we pulled out the IPM board which we put
in yesterday and saw 2 maggot worms (the last time we did this we say many many more.... and saw varroa mites, not a ton, but enough to let us know 
it could be a problem.


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## Katharina (May 2, 2011)

Get a toothpick and pull a few pollen cells and smell them. I bet it is bee bread you are smelling.


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## DOEBOY (Apr 14, 2012)

I walked around my hives today before I went to work and smelled a yeast like odor. I thought it was the chicken coop, but realized it was the bees. My mentor had a hive that was infested with hive bettles someone gave him and I can tell you the smell is putrid. Definitely not something you will want to smell over and over. Has a trash can maggot smell. Doeboy


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## wanderyr (Feb 11, 2012)

I've been smelling this for a few weeks. Thought it was dog poop decomposing on my lawn, maybe with some fruit mixed in  Sorry for that... Anyway, after seeing this thread I checked, and it's certainly the hive.

I just inspected it today, first time getting into the brood nest in months...

No evidence at all of a problem. No beetles, no moths, no mites (that I could see). Lots of bees, capped honey, capped brood, bee bread, and eggs.

One strange thing: some of the comb had been thinned down, almost to the midrib in some places. I think I'll start a new thread on it tomorrow...

Anyway, maybe Katharina has hit it on the head. I didn't smell the bee bread to be sure, however. My hive does have an open sbb. Maybe that's why I could smell it?

Any other thoughts?


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## chr157y (Feb 14, 2013)

Just wanted to say how much I love beesource. A quick search of "beehive yeast" brought me to this thread. Now I have an answer as to why my hive smells like yeast. Thanks again to everyone who originally posted ont his thread. I'm going to smell the bee bread next time I'm in the hive.


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## hilreal (Aug 16, 2005)

Goldenrod, we all mistake it for many other things in our first few years of beekeeping. I can smell it 50 feet from my hives when I walk out my back door. First sign of fall.


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