What is this?

ezra_

I'm new to bee-keeping, so am still paranoid that my bees are going to die / swarm each time I see something new!

What is this black stuff that is mixed in among the waste caps? Is this something to worry about?

Apiarist

Do you have access to a microscope? Take magnified pictures of some of those dark flakes.

Effects

Hard to see, but any chance they are just parts of bees bodies?

Danzy

Looks like bee body parts.

We're your hives being robbed by other bees or wasps going in.

If it is old comb might it be discarded lining from inside cells.

I'd look at the frames above that heap on the middle, just to see what you can see.

ezra_

Danzy wrote: »

Looks like bee body parts.

We're your hives being robbed by other bees or wasps going in.

If it is old comb might it be discarded lining from inside cells.

I'd look at the frames above that heap on the middle, just to see what you can see.

Thanks. I don't think they are being robbed (are there signs that I should see?).

The frames there are from the original nuc, so well used and worn.

ezra_

Actually, that could make sense.

There were a couple of crushed bees on the top of the frame which I scraped off.