Bald Brood and Wax Moths

Bald brood is when developing pupa which should be capped are instead exposed.  Also, picture this – after the workers remove the exposed larva the queen is likely to lay new eggs in the newly vacant cells.  In a couple of weeks those cells will all contain capped brood and the good brood in the picture will all be emerged as adults.  The effect will be that of a terrible “shotgun” brood pattern, but really will not have anything at all to do with the quality of the queen.

Sooner or later you will see bald brood in your hives and wonder what it indicates.  It can be caused by hygenic behavior – bees uncapping diseased or mite infested larva for example.  It can also be caused by moving frames around or  changing the spacing.  But in this excellent article bald brood is from wax moth larva moving under the capped brood, and causing the worker bees to uncap the tops – possibly in preparation for removing damaged brood.

While you are there you should check out the whole website – http://beeinformed.org – lots of good reliable information.