Chilled Brood

• Caused by: poor brood conditions, cold weather
• Larvae are underfed
• Brood covers a larger area than adult bees during cold weather
• Colony inspection during cold weather

If larvae are underfed, or if the brood covers a larger area than the bees can keep warm, some of the brood will die. Uncapped brood killed by chilling turns gray and resembles sacbrood. Such brood will be removed by bees from the cells as soon as the colony grows stronger and returns to normal.

The loss of brood from chilling or lack of food may be prevented by observing the following precautions: (l) work with the bees as little as possible when weather is cold; (2) replace combs in same order in which they were removed, especially if the colony is weak and it is early spring; and (3) do not leave frames of brood standing outside the hive any longer than necessary.

<< PREVIOUS

INDEX

NEXT >>