What is this?

[Becky Hampton]

On Wed of this week - the day after the ice - I went out to check my hive. I noticed all this stuff on the outside of the front of the hive particularly on the running board and lowest super. It looked like skinny dark threads from about 1/8 of an inch long to about 1 1/2 inches long. It's skinnier than a thread. I thought maybe it was bits of pine needles or worms, but too wide, and not moving. When I took a stick to mash it, it squished with yellow stuff coming out. The amount of this stuff has increased sinced Wednesday. Am I looking at bee poop or something else? They've been flying every day it's been above 50 this winter, so I thought they might be taking cleansing flights along the way. Ideas on what this is?

[Jacobs]

If you could post a photo, it would help. Bee poop can be yellow dots or dark "strings" but I don't know that I have ever seen them as long as you are describing. If they started out liquid and "solidified" quickly, you might get what you are describing with bees laying a line of poop.

[Wally]

Sounds like possible nosema.
Does it look like this?

http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/Re ... Nosema.asp

[Becky Hampton]

Yes - it does look like what's in the picture. Guess I better treat it quickly. The info on the post said Fumigilin - B. Is that the best thing you all know of?

[ski]

Fumigilin-B is an antibiotic. So just a caution about feeding and extracting honey, with that said they may eat all they bring in this time of the year.

Just a note:I had a hive with Nosema a couple of years back and tried to treat with Fumigilin in the spring and they were not interested in the syrup as there was nectar flow in progress. The hive survived just fine.

Another note: At the last state beekeepers meeting the Honorable Dan O'Hanlan a West Virginia Beekeeper mentioned more then once during his talks that Nosema either type will go away in 14 days when treated with Fumigilin otherwise it will take 2 weeks. (Not a typo or a joke.)

Welcome to beekeeping.

If you do decide to treat with Fumigilin and they do not take syrup from a feeder you could put the syrup in a spray bottle and spray them once a day for week or two.

[Becky Hampton]

Sounds like He's from the same school of language as Yogi Berra. Thanks for the advice. Will treating it with the Fumigilin prohibit me from getting honey off this hive this year?

[Wally]

Just treat it before you put honey supers on. Take the fumidil off before installing the supers you will be harvesting.