Dead worker larva on landing

[watercarving]

This morning one of my hives had a dead worker larva on the landing. It's abdomen was shriveled but there were no mites on it. I assume this was just general housecleaning. Anything I should look out for?

[bassman1977]

If it's only a one or a few, I wouldn't be too concerned.  You could have damaged brood when inspecting and they were getting rid of it.  It also could have been a bad seed that they wanted to get rid of.  If it's a lot, then there would be more of a reason for concern.  I see this a lot when I damage burr comb which has drone brood in it.  The next day I find the larvae sitting outside.  If you haven't inspected in a while, maybe go in and see the state of the capped brood.  Make sure doesn't have any of the signs of any of the various  foul broods, chilled brood, etc.

From Mr. Bush's site:

http://www.bushfarms.com/beespests.htm#chalkbrood

[wayseer]

Than again it could be more serious.  I'd checked the brood frames for any sign of irregularity.  In a healthly hive no brood should get thrown out.  I'd guess it might be chalkbrood.  Does not sound like any foulbrood - the larvae die as a mush in the cell.  How old is your queen?  A new queen might be in order.

[watercarving]

This is a new nuc from fatbeeman so I think she's brand new. Haven't seen any others so I'm assuming it's an anomaly.

[Scadsobees]

I'm going to guess that it was a pupae, since it is pretty difficult to figure out the difference between a drone larvae and a worker larvae. :roll:

And even if there aren't many mites spreading it directly, the Deformed wing virus is still hanging around in the hive.  Could just be a few here and there that catch it.

Could be a SHB larvae that is burrowing below the surface.  Or a wax moth doing the same.  Chalkbrood mostly affects larvae, and you can identify that by what looks like peices of white and grey chalk laying on the bottom.

You are describing what is usually DWV.  Don't worry about 1, the bees are pretty good at identifying the bad pupae and disposing of them.

Rick