# Do I have chalk brood?



## Jubilee (Mar 12, 2009)

The other day I did a hive inspection and I noticed that some of the uncapped worker brood was dried up and stuck to the side of the cell. It looked like chalk, which is what made me think it was chalk brood. There were also about fifteen dead brood underneath the hive. They looked the same as the ones still in the cells. There was also one live uncapped worker larva that had little white bumps all over it. I also noticed one young worker bee with deformed wings.
Does any one know if this is chalk brood and if so what causes it? What does it do and how do you get rid of it? I am trying to keep the hive as organic as possible. so I want to avoid using chemicals if possible.


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## indypartridge (Oct 26, 2004)

The link below is worth bookmarking for identification of diseases and pests. Scroll down to Section V and click on the chalk brood pictures:
http://maarec.psu.edu/pest&disease/PPDIndex.html

As for treatment, I'm not aware of any chemical treatments. Usually the bees handle it themselves, although you may want to strengthen the colony by shaking in some nurse bees, and/or adding a frame of hatching brood, and supplemental feeding. I've read that chalk brood is tied to dampness and/or poor ventilation, so those may be issues to deal with.

Here's an article (focused on Australia) with a lot of details about chalk brood:
http://www.hgsc.bcm.tmc.edu/projects/microbial/documents/review_Chalkb.pdf


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## Jubilee (Mar 12, 2009)

I am using a bottomless hive so moisture and ventilation aren't a problem.


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## Michael Bush (Oct 26, 2008)

Chilled brood is as much the cause as poor ventilation. Unfortunately these two, during a chilly time or year, contradict one another. More ventilation may help or it may hinder as it may help ventilation but contribute to chilled brood...


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