Frame Guide › Disease
Dysentery: what it looks like on the frame
Late February · brown streaks on the top bars and down the comb.
Healthy bees hold it all winter and go outside on a warm day — a few brown spots on the snow or the front of the box after a cleansing flight is normal. Streaks inside the hive, smeared across the comb, mean the bees couldn't wait.
Get a bee sample checked for nosema before treating anything
Nosema is one cause, but so are a long cold confinement and poor or fermented stores, and nosema can only be confirmed by counting spores under a microscope. Swap out the worst-soiled frames when it warms up, check the ventilation, and make sure their food is clean — then treat only what's confirmed.
Easy to mistake for
- American Foulbrood Warning SignsSpotty brood, sunken greasy cappings with pinholes, and an odd smell.
- RobbingLate August dearth. Bees wrestling on the landing board.
Could you spot this with the lid off?
Read the Frame deals you 8 random frames. Say what you see, say what you'd do, and find out why. It's free and runs on your phone.
Drill disease → Mixed round (all 32 frames) →More disease
- ChalkbroodCool, wet spring. You spot chalky white bits on the landing board.
- American Foulbrood Warning SignsSpotty brood, sunken greasy cappings with pinholes, and an odd smell.
- European FoulbroodMay · built up fast, then stalled. A faint sour smell.
- SacbroodSpring · a handful of odd larvae scattered in otherwise decent brood.
- Chilled BroodYou went through this hive on a windy 48°F day and took your time.
- Foulbrood ScaleA colony that dwindled and died last fall. You tilt a frame toward the light.
These frames are drawn to teach the pattern, and real frames vary. If you suspect foulbrood or a pesticide kill, contact your state apiarist. In Pennsylvania that's the PA Department of Agriculture apiary program. Samples to the USDA Beltsville Bee Lab are free. From The Alleman Apiary in Middletown, PA.