MOLD in the hive???

[CpnObvious]

So weve had quite a bit of bad weather this week, and I'm not sure if that's a factor...  But I had MOLD in Hive 1.  I scraped and cleaned it the best I could.  The two frames + 1 from end tab it was on are not being used yet, undrawn foundation.  Should I have done more?  Maybe torch them lightly?

[pistolpete]

You don't need to worry about it.  The bees will clean it up once they start using that area.

[CpnObvious]

PHEW! Thanks!  Is that kind of normal in the beginning?  Maybe until there's more bees to help regulate the heat and humidity?

[Barbarian]

I agree with pete. Nothing to worry about.

I tend to give the bees one frame of foundation outside the frames they are on then a follower board. I like to think that the board restricts the volume the bees have to keep warm. As long as the bees have a foundation sheet to work on they don't usually build wild comb in the void behind the follower board.

It's not worth disturbing the bees to go specially into the hive to change the configuration.

[riverbee]

mold or mildew in a hive is not normal in the beginning capn....
the bees should take care of this, so no need to torch, but you can scrape it off.....

there is too much moisture for some reason..........
i am wondering what you have for ventilation? entrance reducer totally off the bottom board?  top ventilation of some sort?  are you using a screened bottom board?  is this hive 1 deep or 2 deeps? enough bees for 2 deeps? feeding sugar syrup? are your hives in a damp area? saw your pix, doesn't seem to be?

[blueblood]

I have not seen mold in my hives.  Something is going on there I would think.  Personally, I would remove the frames and spray with 10% (1/10) bleach solution.  I would replace with fresh frames and figure out where moisture is entering or if not enough air flow is happening.

[pistolpete]

I get a bit of mould in the hives in the spring time.  I agree that ventialtion might be lacking, but I think in the captain's case it's just a matter or the bees not occupying any of that outside space.   A hive is hot, humid, and dark.  Mould heaven.

[Perry]

Nothing to see here, move along!   

Scrape it if you want, the bees will polish that up when a flow hits.

[apisbees]

The mold is not much of a concern the bees will clean it up. My concern is at this time of the year, why is there so few bees in the hive that there wasn't suficient bees to care for the space? If it is a made up nuc or a small split or swarm that was installed in too large of space, this sometimes happens when we get hit with unseasonable weather. But if it is a over wintered hive, or a package or nuc installed over a month ago it should have a population by now to cover the frames and ventilate the hive.
What is the origins of the coiony? When was it set up? When was the inspection before this last one and was there mold in the hive then?

[efmesch]

What's the matter with a little bit of mould?  Their spores are everywhere and given the chance, they'll set up house almost anywhere.  Bleach is good to clean up mould where it's esthetically annoying but the bees will clean it up when they're ready and it won't show up in the honey.  I'd be more concerned about bleach on my frames than about mould.  In Israel, commercial housecleaning bleach comes mixed with liquid soap and that would probably leave a residue that the bees can't remove. 

[CpnObvious]

I'll just scrape it as best I can when I see it, for my own peace of mind.  Thanks for the knowledge, folks.

Apis, my hive were just installed 3 weeks ago as packages, brood should just be hatching over the course of this next week.

[blueblood]

I should have clarified.  I give the frames I spray with the mild bleach/water ratio a large break before putting them back in the hive.   The only time I have had any mold is from a frame that may have had nectar in it before I store it.  Our bleach here is, just bleach unless there they are sneaking soap in it.  I just don't like mold, anywhere.  Those spores will continue to thrive if not stopped by bees or bleach.

[rcannon]

The mold wouldn't concern me, but the amount of bees would. Can't tell much from the picture, but it looks like three empty frames on that side of the box. If the other side of the box is about the same, that means you have four frames of bees in a ten frame box. I don't know if you have hive beetles, but down here that box would be slimed in two weeks.
If it were mine, I'd move them to a nuc until they completely covered all five frames before putting them back in a ten frame box.

[riverbee]

capn......is your head spinning yet?..............

[apisbees]

That explains the size. the population is at its lowest now in in a week it will start gaining members. Depending on the supplier, there has become a wide gap in delivery dates. You get encouraged to buy local bees that have survived but some years the delivery date is late. On another forum there is a girl that has hived her packages and has had a swarm from one already. On this side of the USA Canada boarder it is to hard to get bees early enough to have a package build up for a honey crop so nucs are the preferred way to start new hives. When you start with a 5 frame nuc it is equivalent to having started a package 4 to 5 weeks before. The package will get up to full strength but it will take time.using a follower board and limiting the space the package used would have assessed the bees for the last 3 weeks but from now on the population will be expanding and the temperature is staying warmer so it is not so critical.
good luck from here on out. The lump of mold on the bottom bar of one of the frames is a dead bee that was out side of the bees nest area so it was ignored and not removed by the bees. But once the expand over to it they will drag it out.