I harvested one flow frame of honey yesterday for the first time this sping. Immediately I noticed brown specs in the honey, and then one grub flowed out - see the picures! I was able to harvest only two jars of honey from the flow frame. The hive is 2 years old and seems healthy with a huge population of bees.
Can anybody tell me what is going on here? Is the grub a small hive beetle larvae? I didn’t notice any hive beetles when I gave the hive a quick inspection. What could the specs be? Grub poo? I really don’t want to waste the precious honey. If I sieve it and maybe pasturise it, will it be useable at least in cooking?
It looks like a SHB larva. It’s a little odd for just the one to show up in the absence of beetles. In any case, honey has powerful anti microbial properties. I’d filter it through a fine screen such as pantyhose to remove all the ‘sediment’. I would happily consume it myself, but not offer it for sale or to anyone outside my family. Do I think there’s a risk of a health issue? No. It’s an ethical choice to only sell pure honey.
I agree with Mike’s assessment that the grub looks like a hive beetle larvae. The only thing is: you’re in West Aussie, which should rule them out. Therefore it should only be a wax moth larvae. I agree to strain the honey through a fine mesh and consume it yourself if it tastes alright.
I recommend people do a sniff test before harvesting flow honey, on account of my past experience harvesting flow honey for a client. Half of the channels had a rancid odor, which prompted us to clean those channels out before harvest.
I have done a thorough inspection of the hive now and found no further grubs and no evidence of either SHB or Wax Moth damage (I googled before hand). However, in the tray at the bottom of the hive I found 2 moths that look suspiciously like Wax Moths, and some mumified grubs. Maybe somehow that one grub managed to climb up and get in the super somehow? I will be on the watch for them now and put out traps.
The honey smells fine and I am happy to eat it myself, but I wont give any away like I usually do. More for me!
