Wax moth question

[Susan Riggs]

Hey guy

 

I have  a hive that is battling wax moths.  They are still there, but losing

The battle.  What’s the best way to treat it while they are still there?

Thanks,

Susan R.

 

[tbw7...@aol.com]

Susan,

If this is your first encounter with wax moths, then you have generally had good strong and healthy colonies that have kept them at bay.  

A wax moth infestation is an indication of an underlying problem in the colony that has effected the health of the bees or the ratio of bees to equipment.  Unfortunately, the beekeeper often finds both to be evident when wax moths have become a problem.  For the most part, brood frames provide the perfect dark and warm environment for the moths to rear their young.  There, as you have seen, the wax moth larvae can tunnel and develop and eat all along the way making a real mess of your bees' brood comb and wooden wear when left unchecked.  They are much less likely to invade comb in the honey supers if the queen has never been up there laying - e.g. there has never been any brood developing up in the honey super.  

I have seen wax moths become a problem in a variety of situations.... here are a few, but that doesn't mean these are the only reasons wax moths are invading.

• strong hive throws a large swarm (or swarms multiple times) and the remaining population of bees is too low to protect all the comb they have available while they requeen themselves 
• queen issues - causing the hive to dwindle instead of building up
• sometimes the colony fails at requeening after a swarm and the colony dwindles 
  
• beekeeper adds too much equipment at the wrong time
• varroa mite counts and the virus' they vector increase throughout the spring and summer and if the beekeeper is not monitoring the mite loads and responding accordingly, the adult bees die off and sick bees are reared in the cells where the mites are also being reared, causing the hive to fail quickly or over time depending on the mite load

Here are a few resources I thought you might be interested in reading that talk about wax moths in depth.  

https://beekeepclub.com/how-to-treat-wax-moths-in-beehives/

https://carolinahoneybees.com/wax-moths-in-bee-hives/

http://www.bushfarms.com/beeswaxmoths.htm

https://www.kelleybees.com/blog/kelley-beekeeping/all-about-wax-moths/

When I have had to deal with them, most often I have been able to catch the problem early and removed equipment - reducing the amount of equipment the colony had to protect - and freezing the frames.  When I didn't  catch the issue in time, I froze the frames to kill everything and then removed the wax and destroyed it.  It is important to remove all of the infested comb from your apiary as it will still attract more wax moths after you have removed it from the frames.  At this time of year, when freezer space is at a premium and it is terrifically hot, I put the entire frame in my solar wax melter.  That kills off everything and gives me a good start on cleaning up the frame for reuse.

Of course, at the same time you are getting a handle on the infested equipment, it is very important to determine the root cause of why the wax moths were able to take advantage of the colonies resources and respond accordingly.

Hope you find this helpful.  If you need help talking through what was going on with the colony before you found the wax moths, feel free to call.

Terry

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "Franklin County Beekeepers Association" forum/mailing list
 
To participate in this forum
* use the web interface at https://groups.google.com/group/franklincountybeekeepers
* or send email to franklincoun...@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send an email to franklincountybeek...@googlegroups.com

---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Franklin County Beekeepers Association forum / mailing list" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to franklincountybeek...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/franklincountybeekeepers/002501d657d5%24cda547e0%2468efd7a0%24%40riggsmusic.com.

[Jeff Sitze]

Hi Susan,

Is the honey extractor and equipment available for me to borrow?

Thanks!

Jeff Sitze

--

[Susan Riggs]

Hi Jeff,

The bees lost the battle, but

I still have 3 hives.  I don’t really

Have equipment to lend out.  I think

In another e mail I was talking about

Trading frames out.

Sorry,

Susan Riggs

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/franklincountybeekeepers/CAPWPa%2B4UzYXG%2Bff%3Damk3omP4pDx088o6YqE9EWFRejzgs4UvTg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Jeff Sitze]

Oh I was referring to FCBA equipment...sorry to hear about your bees...I lost three hives and am down to two

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/franklincountybeekeepers/001801d68b84%24be92bd40%243bb837c0%24%40riggsmusic.com.

[Susan Riggs]

Oh, Ok,

I’m not the one to ask about FCBA equipment.

Not sure who is, but hope you find it!

Later,

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/franklincountybeekeepers/CAPWPa%2B6PJ-9MK240q%3DT%2B%2B2DiKBTtrwQ%2Bh2QoJiqgg8bRVamQjA%40mail.gmail.com.

[betsey spencer]

The club has equipment to lend for members.  Email Terry Wright. 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/franklincountybeekeepers/002101d68b8b%24f223dd40%24d66b97c0%24%40riggsmusic.com.