Mold , Mildew and Blue Cheese!

Mold on frame  Photo: Liz Vogel

Last week when my husband and Liz were cleaning up the hives, they saw few frames that looked like this one above.  Moldy and plainly ugly! They were a bit worry at such discovery. Of course it is unsightly but there is absolutely no need for concern. Mold and mildew are not diseases, and are not contagious. The few frames that were moldy were found in a hive were honeybees had already perished. The mold did not cause the colony to die.

This phenomenon happens when the humidity level in a hive is too high. This happens when there are not enough bees to ventilate the hive, or when the hive is in decline, or dead. The usual culprit is a mold called : Penicillium waksmaii, which apparently inhibit the growth of certain bacteria!

Interestingly, the mold will not damage the wax, therefore, there is no need to discard the frames, or to clean them ourselves. The bees are champions as far as cleaning goes...they are "cleaning gurus". All we have to do is to place those frames in a strong and healthy colony and the honeybees will take care of the problem. They will clean and polish every cell in a few days. This "special cleaning" is not a real burden for the bees because they always clean old cells thoroughly before re-using them for brood, honey, or pollen.

Let's think about this for a minute....Blue cheese is a general classification of cow's milk, sheep's milk, or goat's milk cheeses that have had cultures of the mold Penicillium added so that the final product is spotted or veined throughout with blue, blue-gray or blue-green mold, and carries a distinct smell, either from that or various specially cultivated bacteria.

I love blue cheese a lot....which is of course full of mold; I eat mold! But the bees don't, they clean it! What a world!