Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 15

Thread: bananas kill Chalkbrood?

  1. #1
    Senior Member Greengage's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Ireland
    Posts
    588
    Blog Entries
    3

    Default bananas kill Chalkbrood?

    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/

  2. #2

    Default

    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


    Last edited by The Drone Ranger; 12-03-2016 at 01:34 AM.

  3. #3

    Default

    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.

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Clyde valley
    Posts
    259

    Default

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

  5. #5

    Default

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

  6. #6
    Senior Member Greengage's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Ireland
    Posts
    588
    Blog Entries
    3

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by SDM View Post
    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

  7. #7

    Default

    I read somewhere that Ascosphera apis produces linoleic acid that inhibits EFB & AFB (feldlaufer et al)
    So as well as losing a swarm & getting stung you might need to burn them as well
    All that from a dodgy banana tip

  8. #8
    Senior Member prakel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Jurassic Coast.
    Posts
    1,480

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by EK.Bee View Post
    I read somewhere that Ascosphera apis produces linoleic acid that inhibits EFB & AFB (feldlaufer et al)
    EK.Bee, I hope you'll excuse me adding the link for you, but your post was interesting enough to send me looking for the original:

    Summary; Ethanol extracts of mixtures of mycelia and spores of Ascosphaera apis, the causative agent of chalkbrood disease in honey bee, was shown to contain an antimicrobial compound active against Bacillus larvae, the causative agent of American foulbrood disease. Purification by high performance liquid chromatography and analysis by mass spectrometry identified the active compound as 9,12-octadecadienoic acid (linoleic acid)

    Isolation and identification of linoleic acid as an antimicrobial agent from the chalkbrood fungus, Ascosphaera apis by M.F Feldlaufer, W.R Lusby, D.A Knox, H Shimanuki; apidologie 1993

    https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...5ZXqzgeIWabIRA
    Last edited by prakel; 13-03-2016 at 04:39 PM.

  9. #9

    Default

    Thanks for posting this, EK.Bee and Prakel, it's fascinating. I'd thought the chalkbrood-vs-foulbrood idea was a completely unfounded internet rumour. This suggests a possible mechanism.
    (Won't stop me getting out the acetic acid, though!)

  10. #10

    Default

    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

    Sent from my LIFETAB_S1034X using Tapatalk

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •