# Chalkbrood treating with Banana skin



## bonykj (Oct 20, 2016)

I have one of my hives had severe chalkbrood, almost for 6 months.

First Attempt: I requeened, still chalkbrood persists: My assumption: the new queen is normal queen without any extra hygienic nature. She lays normal bees just as the other queen.


Second Attempt: Added 10 frames of brood, nothing happened. Business as usual chalkbrood still there.



Third: Added banana skins all over the brood box. It worked. Very less mummies, may be 10 of them. Someone suggested in supermarkets they dip the banana in fungicide and that helps to kill the chalkbrood fungus. Another guy suggested it is a gene variation due to environmental factors. The "RECESSIVE" hygienic gene of bees becomes "ACTIVE" due to the banana and cleaned up the hive.

Probably hygienic gene activated for a short period of time.

But for sure something works in bananas. Does anyone have clue what matters banana to work on chalkbrood?


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## gww (Feb 14, 2015)

I don't know about bananas and I am very new but what I read on chalk brood is change the queen.
gww


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

Be careful with your banana! The scent closely mimics the alarm pheromone given off by really pissed off bees. I tried this banana thing unknowingly to cure my chalkbrood and watched my bare hand turn grey with lustily stinging bees! I got hit thirty times at least instantly! I would have beat the person who told me this within an inch of their life if I could have gotten hold of them. THIS IS DANGEROUS ADVICE. And I have my doubts it works. Hot dry weather cures chalk brood every time. If it persists, get rid of the comb that seems to me to get saturated with the fungus or bacteria that causes brood disease.


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## Marcin (Jun 15, 2011)

I've heard that the idea of banana skin in a hive is to cause the bees to become agitated and raise the internal temperature of the hive so it kills off the pathogen. That's what I've heard, but never saw anything official/research on it.


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## GSkip (Dec 28, 2014)

I had several hives with chalkboard last year. Tired the banana skin thing, it was no help. Requeened the hives, still no help. In discussing my problem with an experienced bee keeper (third generation) he suggested a 50/50 mixture of powder sugar and pickling lime, approximately a cup per 10 frame box. The mixture is sprinkled over the top of the frames. His answer was it changed the PH of the hive. Not suggesting you put anything unapproved in your hives.......but...it worked for me!!!


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## My-smokepole (Apr 14, 2008)

Never heard of pickling lime and where do you get it?


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

bonykj said:


> My assumption: the new queen is normal queen without any extra hygienic nature. She lays normal bees just as the other queen.


So requeen again from stock that has been selected for hygienic trait. Make sure your breeder is actually doing the test on the breeders.


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## camero7 (Sep 21, 2009)

> Be careful with your banana! The scent closely mimics the alarm pheromone given off by really pissed off bees.


I took a banana and peeled it, rubbed it all over the top bars of 3 hives and never took a sting. I think it's an old wives tale


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## Learning2Bee (Jan 20, 2016)

camero7 said:


> I think it's an old wives tale


Not in my experience.


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## Hogback Honey (Oct 29, 2013)

I had a hive with chalk brood last year, tried bleach in the syrup, tried the banana trick, a few other things, but my memory fails me. Nothing ever worked. Right now, that hive is thriving, from the looks of it. Haven't popped the lids and done a real inspection, too cold, but there is as much activity at that hive as the other 3 so far this year. Ahh, there WAS one thing I did, cut down trees, this hive and the one next to it, got afternoon sun from the trees that were close by. One day I went out there in the spring, and noticed the wet snow plopping onto the hives from branches that were overhanging. I'm anxious to see how that hive will do this year.


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

Guessing you have lab confirmation that determined it's Chalk brood? Many brood diseases are seasonal like chalk brood and EFB which can be very hard to tell apart. (see Cushman's site he though he had it for years when it turned out to be EFB)

Putting a banana peel in the hive and it gets better does not necessarily mean the banana peel made them better. And if it did it is likely short lived. You will also be raising drones that are chalk brood magnets for you and your neighbors. 

I would do as MP said and requeen with proven stock.


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

I've read a few discussions on chalkbrood and some people tested things like soil mixes nearby the hives and they came back with high spore counts, so some of the issue could be locational where you have a high natural endemic spore count around the hive.


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## GSkip (Dec 28, 2014)

My-smokepole said:


> Never heard of pickling lime and where do you get it?


Local grocery store that carries home canning supplies, I believe it is used in pickling cucumbers.


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## Gypsi (Mar 27, 2011)

I have only seen chalkbrood once and I credit my sealing the hive up too tightly in winter, and condensation, removed the sticky board so the screen allowed ventilation, sun came out, no more chalkbrood. It was first inspection of the year, really early spring.


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## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

Mrs. Wages is the brand. Look for it in farm stores with the jars and other things. 
True Value hardware might stock it.
http://www.truevalue.com//catalog/p...ive={Creative}&ctplacement=154382-49748504619


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## Hogback Honey (Oct 29, 2013)

I believe it JRG, I get it on things in my barn too.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

We have not run into chalkbrood yet so I have no opinion on banana peels correcting the problem.

I can think of a downside. Our mentor gave us a formula for making wax moth traps, and banana peels are an ingredient. You can find that here:

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/waxmothtrap.html


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

FlowerPlanter said:


> Many brood diseases are seasonal like chalk brood and EFB which can be very hard to tell apart. (see Cushman's site he though he had it for years when it turned out to be EFB)


Wow, that's new to me. I saw chalkbrood once many years back, but it was quite textbook, i.e., early wet spring resulting in mummies on the landing board and in the frames. Also, the times I've seen EFB it was very textbook as well. Is it the early stages of chalk and EFB that are similar? It certainly seems that the end stages will be very different.


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## westtnbeekeeper (Oct 26, 2015)

Learning2Bee said:


> Not in my experience.


Or mine either...


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## Saltybee (Feb 9, 2012)

I don't know about chalkbrood but now I can't get that Donovan song out of my head.


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## BadBeeKeeper (Jan 24, 2015)

bonykj said:


> The "RECESSIVE" hygienic gene of bees becomes "ACTIVE" due to the banana and cleaned up the hive.
> 
> Probably hygienic gene activated for a short period of time.


Do tell, just how, exactly, does a banana 'activate' a gene?

For extra credit, define 'recessive' gene, and explain why it would need to be 'activated'.


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## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

AstroBee said:


> Wow, that's new to me. I saw chalkbrood once many years back, but it was quite textbook, i.e., early wet spring resulting in mummies on the landing board and in the frames. Also, the times I've seen EFB it was very textbook as well. Is it the early stages of chalk and EFB that are similar? It certainly seems that the end stages will be very different.


Dave Cushman;

"The infected larvae are usually seen in the capped stage, but it is common for unsealed larvae to show signs too, where they can lose their segmentation, shape and colour. They can look so much like EFB that on one occasion I was convinced I had EFB, so I called out the Bee Inspector who took one look at it and said "Yes EFB, I'm afraid". To the surprise of both of us the LFD (lateral flow device) test was negative, so we thought the test kit was faulty and used another one, that was also negative. The danger here of course is that someone who is trained to concentrate on nothing but disease and a very experienced beekeeper were both fooled. A less experienced beekeeper may think the next time they see the same symptons it is chalk brood, when it may be EFB."

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/chalkbrood.html

Randy Oliver comparing EFB and AFB;

"Practical application: Some of these symptoms can be confused with those of AFB—I was surprised when I sent a very similar-looking sample to the lab last season and it came back positive for AFB!" 

http://scientificbeekeeping.com/sick-bees-part-18a-colony-collaspse-revisited/



Importance of a lab test.


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## DavidZ (Apr 9, 2016)

My-smokepole said:


> Never heard of pickling lime and where do you get it?


any large chain grocery store or hardware store should have pickling lime in their canning supply section.


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## Adamd (Apr 18, 2009)

CB seems to reduce as spring moves along so maybe adding a banana and seeing an improvement might just be a coincidence. One bad case I had was cured by replacing the queen. However the queen was put in another hive and the CB went with her which would indicate a genetic component or a deficiency in the queen. I beleive that the spores can last for 2 - 3 years though. 
I have one noticeable CB colony now; I will probably leave it for the time-being and see what happens. Maybe I will raid the fruit-bowl!


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## nazlican (Jul 13, 2021)

GSkip said:


> I had several hives with chalkboard last year. Tired the banana skin thing, it was no help. Requeened the hives, still no help. In discussing my problem with an experienced bee keeper (third generation) he suggested a 50/50 mixture of powder sugar and pickling lime, approximately a cup per 10 frame box. The mixture is sprinkled over the top of the frames. His answer was it changed the PH of the hive. Not suggesting you put anything unapproved in your hives.......but...it worked for me!!!


Is this solution really works? can you please explain your experience about chalkboard more? I'm struggling with that disease right now and I really appreciate if you talk about your solution a little more


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