Chalkbrood
Chalkbrood is a fungus. There is no bottle.
Two brood diseases here can look like a nest falling apart. Chalkbrood is neither of them. It is a fungus. UF already wrote that it is common in this state, and that Florida humidity can make it worse. This page is that paper, not a spray list.
There is no recommended chemical treatment for chalkbrood.
What Chalkbrood Recommendations actually names
Chalkbrood is Ascosphaera apis. It infects larvae. It does not usually take the whole colony. A heavy case can still cut the population and the honey. UF says Florida’s subtropical climate may contribute to a greater incidence, and that the disease is common throughout the state. Chalkbrood Recommendations is the cite.
Infected brood are called mummies. Pulled from the cell they look like solid chalk. Early mummies can be white with a yellow-orange head. Later they turn dark gray or black. That dark color means fruiting bodies have formed. You can see mummies in the comb, on the bottom board, or at the hive entrance. Some keepers shake a comb and listen for the rattle of loose mummies. That rattle is a field hint. It is not a lab.
High moisture, poor ventilation, cool temperatures, and colony stress help the fungus. A box that sits in a damp low spot, or that holds rain on the floor, is the job Chalkbrood Recommendations names. There is no recommended chemical treatment. Symptoms often seem to clear on their own. Skip a fungicide listing that sits next to the word brood. Chalkbrood is not American foulbrood. AFB cannot be treated. Florida’s clock for that diagnosis is seven days to burn or irradiate. Chalkbrood is not European foulbrood either. EFB can be treated. Chalkbrood cannot, on this paper.
Air, tilt, feed, queen
Hygienic workers pull mummies fast. Replacing the queen with stock bred for that behavior is a common practice on the paper. Keep mummies in the sick box. Replace old brood comb with foundation when you can. Tilt the colony slightly forward so rain does not sit on the floor. Give the box sunlight. Site it off a low, damp, cool pocket. A small block under the edge of the outer cover lets air move. Supplemental feeding helps a stressed colony fend the infection off. That feed job still lives on the feed page if the box is light in August.
Supplemental feed is the paper’s job when a stressed colony cannot fend chalkbrood off. Heft first. Get this. A warped outer cover holds water on the nest. Tilt it. Block it. Replace it if the warp stays. Get this. Copy the tilt and the block from Chalkbrood Recommendations. A search result next to chalkbrood is still not a chemical.
Is chalkbrood the same as AFB?
No. Chalkbrood is a fungus. AFB is a spore-forming bacterium. Mummies rattle. AFB often ropes. The inspector still owns an AFB diagnosis. Florida’s burn clock is on the AFB page.
Should I spray the combs?
Chalkbrood Recommendations names no chemical treatment. Ventilate, keep rain off the floor, feed if the colony is stressed, and requeen for hygiene. Leave spray off this job.
Sources
- Chalkbrood Recommendations. No chemical treatment. Moisture, ventilation, hygiene, requeen.
- Identification and Treatment of European Foulbrood. EFB can be treated. AFB cannot. Different paper from chalkbrood.
- Keeping Bees in Florida. Florida humidity and year-round brood. FDACS inspects registered yards.