bananas kill Chalkbrood?

[Greengage]

Came across this: You take a 1 1/2′ shim board and put it on your hive. Then you take a banana cut it in half and put it on the top bars inside the hive, skin down. Leave your hive alone for one month. Do not peak! One month later the banana will be dried up and the Chalkbrood will be gone.
http://www.beverlybees.com/mass-bee-field-day-2012/

[The Drone Ranger]

That's what they say I looked into it a while back but it turned out to be folklore

So I think you slipped up there GG
http://www.gifbin.com/bin/012013/137...ps_on_man.webm

[Calluna4u]

Yep, another unproven story from those desperate to uncover a completely 'natural' remedy. (But is a banana in a beehive natural?)

Even without digging beyond the initial story I could see the flaws back then, within the first minute of reading about it. Chalk brood comes and goes. Colonies with chalk on day 1 are often without it a month later, and in also works the other way round, so they could have been seeing a natural undulation in the problem, which tends to get less of an issue as the weather warms and the colony builds.

However.....killer flaw No.1 for me was the 'leave it undisturbed for a month and don't peek in'. In the active season and as its for chalk its the period of most rapid build up. Utter non starter unless you want to give away all your best bees in swarms and be left with a non producing load of rubbish to hopefully build for a modest heather crop. Complete non starter even if it DID work.

[nemphlar]

They are good for ripening conference pears, I think it's the ethylene bananas give off

[SDM]

The leave it alone for a month was probably good advice mind you, doesn't banana do a good impression of alarm pheromone?

[Greengage]

The leave it alone for a month was probably good advice mind you, doesn't banana do a good impression of alarm pheromone?

I did not believe it anyway I was being mischievous posting it, I also hear never eat bananas if going to the hive

[The Drone Ranger]

Hi Emma
Shows what I know I said it was a myth
Still not convinced
Do you think acetic acid has any affect on chalkbrood spores

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[Emma]

Hi DR,
Yup, me too! - I was quite convinced by now that there was nothing in it.
Beebase reckons acetic fumigation works against chalkbrood - according to their info sheets on "Hive Cleaning and
Sterilisation" and on "Fumigating Comb". (Tho' the 2 leaflets do give slightly different methods, & different amounts of acid - I went for the one which was easiest!)
I certainly hope it works - feels like I've spent at least a day by now tidying up combs, carting them to the polytunnel, & piling them in a sealed tower of boxes. Even if chalkbrood does have a function, I'd rather keep it to a minimum.