Nosema/Dysentery above Snelgrove Board

[charlievictorbravo]

I installed a Snelgrove Board last week and have completed one round to door changes. I had a look at them yesterday evening and found brown stains (see photos) around the exit from the upper brood box; the lower box seems clear of these marks.

I've looked in The Bee Manual and Guide to Bees and Honey but the emphasis seems to be on nosema/dysentary in winter rather than summer. The top box has the benefit of the "hive cozy" so it should be fairly warm although it did have a detailed shb inspection last Thursday (4 days ago) by the SBI so it may have got chilled then.

It's cool and windy here at the moment but my thoughts are to open up when it warms up and give the SB and the outside of the BB a thorough clean to try to prevent whatever it is from spreading, remembering that the SB acts as a floor for the upper chamber.

Would there be any benefit in trying to feed them with Thymolated syrup - there's no honey super on the upper BB - or should I leave them to work their way through this condition?

Any advice appreciated.

CVB

 

[alldigging]

They've not accidentally been shut in for a few days and then let out again?

 

[charlievictorbravo]

They've not accidentally been shut in for a few days and then let out again?

No, nothing like that. You can see in the photo the size of door that's been open for their access/egress since the SB was installed.

The weather has not been good here with showers and wind but there's been plenty of opportunity for them to get out.

The hive is about 6 metres from a Sycamore tree that has just come into flower. I did wonder whether they've overdosed on that and it has upset their digestive systems.

CVB

 

[Nige.Coll]

Easiest way to check is to catch some foragers and pull the last section of their abdomen out. It should pull the gut out too. Check the colour of the gut . Brown ish is ok white is nosema. Other than that 30 bees and test them or ask someone else to with a microscope.

 

[Nige.Coll]

Easiest way to check is to catch some foragers and pull the last section of their abdomen out. It should pull the gut out too. Check the colour of the gut . Brown ish is ok white is nosema. Other than that 30 bees and test them or ask someone else to with a microscope.

If you Google nosema field test you can find a detailed instruction with pictures

 

[Erichalfbee]

Or Randy Oliver's "Quick Squash" method