It was all going well until I found Wax Moth

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Nice day,22c ,sunny hive one, good brood, found the queen, eggs, no QCs , stores and pollen going in, supers on, Hive two just the same, caught the new queen in crown of thornes, marked her.

On to my free Carnie nuc, brood hatching, eggs, fat new queen,( yep i have lost a caste.they're carnies) marked her, then last frame...whats that,

turned out to be two Wax moth larvae making new wooly covering for their caccoons on the side of the last store frame

rechecked the comb, roof , under floor , nothing else only one trace of trails on the store frame, not in the brood...now i have never until now had wax moth as my hives have been isolated from others. so its come in on the "free" nuc

so what else other than squash the blighters do i need to do : how and when do i treat with the anti wax moth product cetarn, and should i?
 
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so what else other than squash the blighters do i need to do : how and when do i treat with the anti wax moth product cetarn, and should i?

Finger and thumb is the best option or if thats not your thing then -> :beatdeadhorse5:
 
Wax moth larvae in live colonies is pretty inconsequential. You just kill them if you see them.

Sorry the reply isn't as dramatic as your post.
 
Biggest problem I have ever had with wax moth is just that - moth in my wax! In the hive there have occasionaly been moth larvae, but not many in strong colonies! I suffered a little in my early days but the hives were in a spinney and that may have made a difference.

But for the beginners: They will destroy your comb over winter if not treated. They can make a right mess in short time in stored frames winter or summer.

I have used certan but too d*mned expensive. It works, but so did the old moth ball stuff (which is now banned). I now regularly burn sulphur strips (more than they say to use) or regularly fumigate with ethanoic acid. Freezer treatment, followed by complete sealing has been effective in the past.

Frame comb represents quite a bit of honey (Money and time) so is very much worth looking after. I always try to have some good drawn comb available for use, but never seem to quite manage enough - a lot finishes up as recycled wax, which is not a bad thing. I don't even keep any old brood frames for bait hives now; it all gets recycled regularly. The bait hives seem to work OK with a frame of good wax and a few starter strips in frames (to encourage combs 'in rows' if they have to stay in any length of time) and some lure.

Regards, RAB
 
thanks,

do you think eggs can be transfer on cloths etc or it in only eggs in cracks in supers etc and adult moths.

I lost frames last winter stored at the association apairy after processing but never had it in my hives before. Those supers have been washed in bleach and are still stored off my site and i used only fresh new thornes " winter sale seconds" supers so far this year

i'll just be vigilant with the heavy thumb
 
Moths fly? Very effective way to get the problem spread around. Only needs small amounts of wax left around to attract them.

Regards, RAB
 
Blow torch is very theraputic when you have a big problem with them!!!

took on someones hive last year after empty hive had a swarm move in opened hive on first visit and found this!



These were the best of the frames most were so eaten through that they went straight onto the bonfire.

Cant remember if it was on 3/4 brood boxes all full of frames!!! had lots of fun torching the lesser and greater maggots!!! they wiggled a bit like this - :party:
 
I had a few early on, i put up a post with an image of wax moth larva poo on the removable floor.

I killed those i could see, squished some under the frame lugs and thought i was rid.

However last week saw a trail through some brood 4-5 cells, the bees were working on it so i think a good colony will remove them where they can.

Although you can see the cocoon and also the grubs, i have not seen eggs, the buggers just seem to appear.
 

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