Unusual debris on board below OMF

[Jon.21]

Hi

Recently put all my boards in under the omf to do oxalic acid vape. Left them in a week as did a 2 treatments 5 days apart.
When I took them out after 7 days after the first vape which was today I noticed the usual odd varroa mite and wax cappings but on one out the 3 hives boards I noticed these darker almost black long thin cylindrical shaped pieces slightly bigger than the wax cappings. Any ideas what they are and what produced them ?

 

[Wilco]

Would be suspicious of wax moth larvae.

 

[enrico]

earwig or woodlice poo

 

[The Poot]

I tend to think earwig and wood lice. I often see debris like this but haven’t had a wax moth issue………yet.
Could even be from a shrew sheltering on the board. I get that a lot.

 

[Antipodes]

Hi

Recently put all my boards in under the omf to do oxalic acid vape. Left them in a week as did a 2 treatments 5 days apart.
When I took them out after 7 days after the first vape which was today I noticed the usual odd varroa mite and wax cappings but on one out the 3 hives boards I noticed these darker almost black long thin cylindrical shaped pieces slightly bigger than the wax cappings. Any ideas what they are and what produced them ?

It is wax moth larvae faeces.
The grubs live in the top bar groove of the frames where the bees can't get at them, or only very infrequently. You can sometimes find a large larva crawling out the front of the hive and think there is an infestation, only to find no evidence on inspection. That's because they live undetectable in the top bar groove.

https://montgomerycountybeekeepers.com/what-to-expect-when-inspecting/

 

[pargyle]

I'd suspect it's shrew ... waxmoth poo tend to stay in the webs they leave in the comb ... you don't often see it on the inspection board unless the board has been left in for a long time and they take up residence on the board - to be honest those poos look a bit too big for wax moth (even the greater wax moth) and if you have a mesh floor I'd be surprised if they would drop through . . My money would be on a small rodent sheltering there - and they are quite partial to a bit of wax.

 

[Jon.21]

Thanks all. I might have a Quick look through the front entrance to see if anything large is on the omf rodent wise and if not leave till spring as assume there is no benefit now in opening in up etc ?

 

[Antipodes]

Thanks all. I might have a Quick look through the front entrance to see if anything large is on the omf rodent wise and if not leave till spring as assume there is no benefit now in opening in up etc ?

Yes. Excellent photos by the way!
Wax moth droppings won't stay on the webs within the hive. A previous poster mentioned that the wax moth poo "tends to stay in the webs in the comb", but in my experience, that is only when the combs are out of the hive and away from the bees. Within the hive, the bees are intolerant of them and as they chew at any webbings and droppings, the droppings fall down past the combs to the bottom of the hive. They are a very common thing to see on an inspection tray.
Here is a photo (attached bellow) I just took today for you of wax moth poo from a stored frame I have here. I've removed them from the webbing. You can hopefully see the classic segmentation (as in the article I linked above) usually with three to four circumferential ridges as per those in your photos and sometimes a groove running the full length. Mine are definitely not shrew droppings as we do not have shrews here. You can see, like you reported with yours, that mine are also "darker, almost black" but you will notice some of yours are lighter than others, most likely reflective of the colour of the wax being consumed by the larvae.

Shrew scat look quite different from what I can find online. Attached shrew scat as an illustration...

Shrew droppings M003 Illustration | Mammal Illustrations by Chris Shields

 

[Jon.21]

Thanks. Really appreciate you having a look yourself and sending the photos. They look the same so must be wax moth as you said. I’m coming to realise that a big part of beekeeping is that you learn so much about other things as part of the process of looking after bees.

Yes. Excellent photos by the way!
Wax moth droppings won't stay on the webs within the hive. A previous poster mentioned that the wax moth poo "tends to stay in the webs in the comb", but in my experience, that is only when the combs are out of the hive and away from the bees. Within the hive, the bees are intolerant of them and as they chew at any webbings and droppings, the droppings fall down past the combs to the bottom of the hive. They are a very common thing to see on an inspection tray.
Here is a photo (attached bellow) I just took today for you of wax moth poo from a stored frame I have here. I've removed them from the webbing. You can hopefully see the classic segmentation (as in the article I linked above) usually with three to four circumferential ridges as per those in your photos and sometimes a groove running the full length. Mine are definitely not shrew droppings as we do not have shrews here. You can see, like you reported with yours, that mine are also "darker, almost black" but you will notice some of yours are lighter than others, most likely reflective of the colour of the wax being consumed by the larvae.

Shrew scat look quite different from what I can find online. Attached shrew scat as an illustration...

Shrew droppings M003 Illustration | Mammal Illustrations by Chris Shield