Hi
Been an amateur beekeeper and never had issues. Since last season my hives have been suffering from chalkbrood. On and off.
I had advice to cull the hives and start again with new gear which I thought was a bit too drastic. Someone else suggested to slice a ripe banana and place it on top of the bars. I scoffed at that idea but then was desperate and gave it a go, nothing to loose.
Well I did loose a few bananas because as I suspected they did nothing to eliminate chalkbrood.
Any ideas what I can do? Problem is more annoying than severe.
Is it an issue of chilled brood or chalk brood? Chilled brood, brood that die due to cold, usually occurs when the ambient temperatures, too few nurse bees result in brood dying.
I had chalkbrood bad in one hive, and it was really stemming from the location, the overhanging branches were casting to much shade and the area was very damp, with decaying leaf litter. After some pruning, and cleaning around the hive so it could dry out, it was resolved. But I have noticed now chalkbrood in another hive, and i suspect again because the just seem to be a bit too damp where they are located.