Hi Kirsten,
My chalkbrood arrived in a caught swarm, took 4 months to be rid of it. Tried everything I could, even stuff I shouldn’t have like using a combination of chlorine and anti-fungal sprays, oh and tried the “half a banana on the top of the brood box” trick but to no avail. In the end, I replaced the queen with a Briggs queen, then cycled out all the brood frames over summer. Problem solved, no chalkbrood going into winter, but I can no longer breed from that box which is a shame… the best bees I have had so far. Give it a bit more time Kirsten but don’t wait too long, I hope it improves for you.
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Thanks Rodderick. It’s very frustrating. I removed the worst frame when I first discovered it last Summer. I think I will cycle out all brood frames this summer, depending on what I find when I can inspect, order a new Queen. This hive is the first swarm I caught last Spring, it didn’t appear for approx. 4 months, actually I was checking my notes today & they swarmed on the 17th of September. I had to move this hive twice in a short period of time & I think they were under a bit of stress for awhile, besides the peculiar weather & poor forage, which set them back & may have contributed to the CB ‘situation’?
Our weather was forecast as hovering around 10-13 degrees max with 1 or 2 days 18 or 19 degrees for the next week. It has now been revised to -1 - 3 degrees min & 8 -11 degrees max. I’m hoping we will soon have some weather which allows me to at the very least inspect the hives & hopefully take some action before they swarm.
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Whoa! its supposed to be getting warmer down where you are… saying that its been very cool in Sydney too. This weekend is expected to be above 20C so I am hastily arranging site visits to do brood frame manipulations before the cool sets in again next week.
Fingers crossed for your chalkbrood, its bugger of a disease to have but not fatal, so with some careful management you will get on top of it. All the best with it.
Just visited the hive today and cleaned out the chalk brood. Heres a photo of the screen after it was done. I will upload the photo of the beetle as well.
Apparently Russell no longer works for the department. Cynthia is the person to contact. Do you want her number?
Were there many mummies caught in the wire? If you don’t use the banana, I’d put the corflute in the top slot to help stop the mummies getting caught in the wire - if they did.
Yes there where quite a couple, I will move the coreflute into the top slot. I plan to go back and feed them sugar syrup and use the banana technique. Will the Chalk Brood ruin my honey this season? Here is one photo of the beetle it looks like a type of cockroach.
Bees apparently tolerate cockroaches if that is what it is. In fact, they might eat wax moth larvae.
You could put the banana inside the hive and the corlute in the top slot. I haven’t heard that the chalkbrood will affect the honey.
That’s not a SHB. Must be some kind of cockroach, it could be an edible variety:)
PS. the chalk brood wont effect the honey. I like to lightly scorch the bottom boards after a bad chalk brood infection. Also I cut any badly affected brood combs out & start again with fresh foundation after cleaning & lightly scorching the frames.
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yeah, nice cockroach you have there… 
at least its not some megalith hive beetle…
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Thanks Rodderick. I think I’m going to contact Jodie Gerts & order a Queen as a precaution. It seems the forecast is getting colder by the day, apparently we can expect snowfall again this coming Monday & Tuesday…As mentioned in reply to Berends, I’m not sure if the CB has returned over winter. It was having problems with condensation & I was/am concerned that the condensation/high humidity would instigate another outbreak. It’s always helpful to know how other people cope with things like this & I appreciate you sharing your experience.
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Sorry, I should have mentioned he was no longer there. I have the no. thanks, I reported it in January this year. The hive was on top of it prior to Autumn. I haven’t been into my hives as yet, too cold. I have cleaned the bottom board by scraping it out from the front of the hive. I haven’t found any mummies, as yet, I was concerned it may have flared up again over winter as the hive had a lot of condensation. I put a MQ on the hive & condensation now appears under control, from what I can see on the bottom board & opening top into MQ. I did also open top enough to put my hand inside the hive & see if there was any moisture on the hive mat or sides, they were dry. However, I suspect I won’t know the full story until I can inspect the whole hive.
That’s alright, all good thanks for sharing your experience as well. I read that the cold temperature is most likely when chalk brood occurs. Is that right?
My Hive is in the shade most of the day and seems damp.
When I first got the Hive I saw dead lava in the comb but thought it was a normal occurance. Is that the first stage of chalk brood?
I think I may have had chalk brood since February I got the bees from a swarm. The bees are generally very calm and don’t attack me.
I’m wondering if I should relocate the bees and start again. Pressure hose the hive to remove the spors and then start off with a package or use lemongrass oil to attract bees.
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Hi @berendsbees I believe your hives will do better in a sunnier location for sure. About the pressure washing, not so sure. Jeff and others have mentioned scorching equipment as a sure way of killing spores. Anyone out there using pressure hosing/washing successfully? How about baking frames in a low oven…
Dried up larvae in cells is a sign of chalkbrood. Apparently they are actually quite difficult for the workers to pull out of the cells, so if you are seeing a lot in the bottom of the hive, you have a very bad case.
Chilled brood is the commonest starting cause of chalkbrood but once you have significant amounts, the queen can perpetuate it. The only way to stop it then is to requeen, hence the discussion above about a new queen. However, if you leave seriously infected frames in the hive, a new queen will not cure it. If I have less than 10% of a frame infected, I try to cut out the infected area. Much more than that, I really want to replace the whole frame. Again, as others have said, putting the hive in a sunny spot will really help. If you can’t do that, try to make sure that it gets full sun for at least half of the day. Don’t inspect the hive on cold, windy or rainy days, the chilling from that will also make things worse.
I agree with @Eva, pressure washing won’t remove the spores. Personally I would drench the wood with 10% household chlorine bleach, leave it in the sun for a day, then rinse off with clean water. You could also scorch the inside with a blow torch - you need to blacken the wood for it to be effective.
@berendsbees
It can occur in warm dry periods too. My hives are in a sunny spot and got chalkbrood during a particularly warm and dry period. Consider chilled brood being perhaps about the number of bees covering the brood and how well they are keeping it warm, more than the outside temp. At the moment the nights are still down in the -2c at times, but with lots of varied pollen and nectar coming in I have no chalkbrood to speak of. In my experience much depends on the strength of the hive and the quantity and the quality of food (nectar and pollen) coming in. I think you will be pleasantly surprised with some food boost for them and a smaller hive combined with the natural pollen and nectar coming in.
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Ok so could I get tweezers and one by one remove the chalk-brood from their cells. I just don’t feel comfortable cutting them out.When I have seen the chalk-brood in the past it has been scattered across the frames. Not just in one location. I will try and move them into a sunny space asap. And get them sugar syrup as well.
Sorry i’ll listen and apply the advice given.
Yes cold temps definitely impact, as well as ventilation & nutrition, lack of high quality nectar & pollen forage. Even if you have warmish temps during the day , if the nights are cold & you’ve opened your hive it can be detrimental as it takes a few days for the bees to get temps in the hive back to optimum for brood. There shouldn’t have been dead larvae in the hive when you purchased it initially, not very good practice on the part of the seller, but without seeing it I couldn’t say that it was already present, however it seems most likely. I have some photos of the 2 frames affected in my hive, I’ll try & find them, so you have a comparison. This is good reference for what to look for, if the dead larvae looked like the images here, I would say that your right.
"Young infected larvae do not usually show signs of disease but will die upon being sealed in their cells as pupae. Worker bees will uncap the cells of dead larvae, making mummies clearly visible, before sometimes removing the mummified larvae and depositing them on the hive floor or at the entrance to the hive."
http://beeaware.org.au/archive-pest/chalkbrood/#ad-image-0
As far as location ideally you want the bees to have sun in the early parts of the day & some respite during the hottest parts of the day. Shelter from prevailing wind & damp is important too.
Regarding cleaning your hive parts I was advised when I reported it to clean, scrub out with bleach & dry in sun (& over heater in my case, sun was very thin on the ground. I also washed with vinegar & Bi Carb Soda), then to scorch with a blowtorch. I did mine till surface was visibly ‘toasted’ & then sanded back. Most important to keep it separate from any other hive parts for different hives. I clean everything that I use when doing anything with this hive & have separate tools, gloves (often easier to use rubber you can clean or disposable), anything that comes into contact with anything to do with the hive affected, basically, to contain possibility of cross contamination. Each of my hives is in a different location in the garden also, they don’t sit adjacent to each other.
It is definitely easier to manage hives with more than one. So perhaps relocate this hive when temps warm up & also trap a swarm. It’s so much fun. Where in Victoria are you? If you don’t have any luck catching a swarm, I can possibly help you with colony (no Chalk Brood! 
).
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Regarding removing the mummies from the comb, I would give the bees a chance to get on top of this themselves first. From the photos you posted it looks as if they have been trying to remove them. If it is still fairly cool where you are, I wouldn’t want to keep exposing the brood, it could exacerbate the problem. If you have a frame which is a large % of Chalk Brood perhaps remove it all together. The more you open the hive the more you expose it to the cold & the harder it is for the bees to manage the temp & humidity. Keep an eye on your bottom board & make sure that none of the mummies are left on the ground underneath.
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