[wonderwooly]

Hello I have attached a few photos to help with a diagosis.

To give a summery we are new this year to bees and started the season with two half sized
Hives, they both needed a bit of feeding when transferred to full size hives in spring.
One had some possible damp issues, with one of the outside frames needing to be taken out.
It had some mouldy bits and the bees where not using it.
Now one of the hives is flourishing and the other has taken a sharp turn for the worse, ironically though through the winter it was the strongest. After some advice we have changed the frames over to a new hive toughly cleaned out with blow torch and took out any frames that they were not building into yesterday and took these photos,
They doesn’t seem to be a lot of bees in comparison to the other, and not many new eggs, the trubering bit as if we needed more was the eggs that were rotting, quite a few had also been thrown out and were in the grill of the hive when we transferred them. I did see the queen.
 Obviously worried about foul brood, but think chalk brood more likely. We are in France.
And my french friend had suggested feeding them one off with a syrup and onion mixture,
Also the two hives are close to each other so to save the good one should we move this one in case
Of infection?
Can someone with a more experienced eye cast an eye over the photos and offer some advice.
We are beginners so go easy with technicalities thanks to all.

[JulieWall]

Don't like the look of the mould in the corners, have you got a solid floor in the hive? If so, I would remove it and add a varroa mesh floor to get some serious ventilation in there.

[wonderwooly]

hi they are in the new dadant hives now which has ventalation,
but the original five frames started out in spring in a nuc hivewhich
is not ventalated and it was a wet spring, maybe thats the problem
but why is the queen not laying new eggs and the lave are dieing?

[HesterF]

I'm new to this too but I can't see why you think chalk brood? From the photos, the larvae look normal? You would expect the queen to slow down on laying at this time of year although not stop completely. Is there any chance you've just not noticed eggs? And have you uncapped brood to have a look inside sealed cells? If it's foul brood, you can try the match stick test to see if the cell contents are gloopy. How many frames have you got used altogether and how many of those are pure stores and how many have brood on them?

The most likely way to transfer disease is via you. Personally I would always inspect the healthy hive first and then change gloves and clean your hive tool in washing soda solution before inspecting the other hive (I do this anyway even without a sick hive). Then after the inspection of the sick hive, make sure your hive tool is sterilised, your bee suit cleaned above 40 degrees and you throw away your gloves (assuming they're disposable which would be best).

Just another newbie guessing at some answers!

H

[wonderwooly]

That’s fine, we’re new bees too, thanks for the interest; although there are normal larvae in the photo, if you look in the central bit and on the edges there are larvae which have gone rotten in different stages. The central one has a sort of yellowy end that seemed to corresponded with the slipper described in ted hoopers book. I could defernetly be wrong as I have never seen it before. The other reason was that we had previously had a problem with dampness in the nuc hive so had wondered if that could have perpetrated the conditions for chalk brood, as it’s a spore? That’s it really and if anybody knows anything else please do get in touch
(you can try the match stick test to see if the cell contents are gloopy. How many frames have you got used altogether and how many of those are pure stores and how many have brood on them?)
Yes I’ll try the test next time, there is six of the build older frames from the nuc, and five new frames, they have build a little on three of the frames and there is a small brood in two of the frames, but quite random and not many.

We fed them a day ago, as thought if they were strugerling why not,  and tried onion siurop!, 
I’m going up to look at them in a days time, to see what if anythings changed

[cloddopper]

http://www.cornwallhoney.co.uk/beepedia/chalkbrood.htm
 This is a picture of chalk brood.
 
Your dead lavae appear slightly different .
 I googled pictures of bee diseases and found it there .

 re queening might also help if you can grow a new queen PDQ ( have you any cells being formed )  and then introduce her before the end of Sept before the weather turns  to lousy late August to mid Sept is usually a time when natural superceedure takes place

[wonderwooly]

thanks for that, it dose look quite different, so not chalk brood,
and changing the queen dose seem to be a good idea, athough
im now back to wondering what is making these lavie die, could it be
foul brood if so i would have to go on along the drastic burn route.

[wonderwooly]

i have looked into it a bit more, I think it is EFB,
I dont know what else would make the larvae do this? ie rot.
could someone with more experince than me have a good look
at the photos, I can do some more sepcific ones if needed.
I'm a bit worried now... i think i might lose this lot.

[cloddopper]

Thankfully I never experienced EFB or AFB.
 This link give EFB info http://www.extension.org/pages/23693/european-foulbrood:-a-bacterial-disease-affecting-honey-bee-brood#.UhEyZCBwbIU


 The pictures do indeed look very much like your shots.
The bacteria is naturally occuring and only seems to affect weakened hives ( damp neuc boxes  included )
 
I gather from the link that it  could have arisen because of failure of sufficient nectar supplies at the critical moment of the hive 's yearly cycle .

 I wonder if feeding them with lots of 1 to 1 syrup would improve their chances of over wintering as well as requeening the hive.

[HesterF]

Could you contact your local bee inspector? I think they'd come out for free and would be able to advise you the best course in person. Good luck!