Wax moth in my super

[sean-a]

I have just opened a stack of supers I'd stored in the garage to extract and they are full of waxmoths.

Can I feed this back to the bees?

I am thinking that if I put the super on the floor, then a crown board and an empty super above that then the brood box....
Then the bees will recover the honey.

Is this worth doing?

 

[bobthecob]

First thing to do - freeze each frame for 24 hours (I presume you were going to do this anyway, but just to be clear). This kills all stages of the moth. You obviously can't put it back into a beehive before doing this.

After freezing it will be fine to give to the bees as long as you are happy there isn't any potential to spread disease (and as long as you do it before it gets re-infested with wax moth).

And yes, it is certainly worth doing - the alternative is throwing honey in the bin which would be a great shame given the trouble they went to making it.

 

[enrico]

It will take them a while to clear a whole box. I do it a frame or two at a time. Wait till they have sucked them dry and then change them for another two. An expensive lesson learned methinks. Horrible things leave a terrible mess. I would melt the bad frames down and start with fresh foundation.

 

[pargyle]

First thing to do - freeze each frame for 24 hours (I presume you were going to do this anyway, but just to be clear). This kills all stages of the moth. You obviously can't put it back into a beehive before doing this.

Whilst this is the regularly provided advice in all the bee books there have been a number of threads on here in the past that indicate it is not as effective as was previously thought .. 'freezing' will kill all stages but your freezer really needs to be capable of getting down to well below freezing .. minus 15 deg C seems to be the optimal temperature and the time required to kill all the eggs and larvae is dependent upon the temperature and the ability of your freezer to get the frames down to these sort of temperatures and maintain the combs at those temperatures for at least a couple of hours.

It should also be noted that this will not protect frames from reinfestation ... if the frames are stored anywhere that the moths can get at them after they have thawed ... then reinfestation will re-occur. Seal frames in polythene or put them in sealed boxes to allow them to thaw and then put them on a hive to clean. If they are badly infested and there are lots of webs and tracks you may be better off just extracting the frames or cuttting out the comb, crush and strain it and feed it back to the bees in a feeder. Fork out any grubs if you can before processing of course ...

 

[bobthecob]

minus 15 deg C seems to be the optimal temperature

That's why I said 24 hours rather than the 3-4 hours which is quoted in a lot of texts. In reality any freezer which can't get something below -15 after it has been in the freezer for a few hours isn't really working properly and shouldn't be used for storing food which humans intend to eat, never mind honey frames. I use a proper chest freezer, but as long as it's in there for long enough any well-functioning freezer should do it. I have tested the method several times for any re-emergence (i.e. putting the frozen frames somewhere where no re-infestation could occur) and there wasn't any

 

[bobthecob]

It should also be noted that this will not protect frames from reinfestation

Yep, that's what I said

 

[bobthecob]

It should also be noted that this will not protect frames from reinfestation

It was noted

 

[pargyle]

It was noted

You can say that again ... Oh - I see that you did !

 

[Murox]

.. .. 'freezing' will kill all stages but your freezer really needs to be capable of getting down to well below freezing .. minus 15 deg C seems to be the optimal temperature and the time required to kill all the eggs and larvae is dependent upon the temperature and the ability of your freezer to get the frames down to these sort of temperatures and maintain the combs at those temperatures for at least a couple of hours. ...

Freezing to minus 18C is an effective method of killing many insects and as you point out needs to be reached quickly and maintained for a period ~ I have usually gone for 24 hours or overnight.

 

[sean-a]

It's in the freezer....I have only taken the frames without too much damage.
I think that they will get a good spray of Dipel too

 

[Rowena]

Dipel??

 

[Murox]

Dipel??

B401 Certan ~ An alternative to Certan is DiPel DF. it contains the kurstaki subspecies of Bacillus thuringiensis. Although a different subspecies, the toxin is equally effective and equally specific. DiPel DF is available from agricultural suppliers and DiPel DF sourced from Italy is routinely listed on eBay DiPel is listed as non-toxic for bees.

 

[Patrick1]

I have just opened a stack of supers I'd stored in the garage to extract and they are full of waxmoths.

Can I feed this back to the bees?

I am thinking that if I put the super on the floor, then a crown board and an empty super above that then the brood box....
Then the bees will recover the honey.

Is this worth doing?

Put the infected equipment in the freezer for a few days first then feed it back.

 

[ShinySideUp]

Home freezers should be set to minus 18C, any higher than that and you just have an ice box.

As soon as I have extracted the honey from the super -- and I mean as soon as -- the whole thing goes in a black bin bag which is not opened until required the following season. Been doing it that way since I started beekeeping and have never had was moth. Also, and I've mentioned this before here, each super gets it's own bin bag so in the unlikely event one gets contaminated the others are not infested. Bin bags are cheap too.

 

[Swarm]

They will easily eat through the plastic.

 

[ShinySideUp]

They will easily eat through the plastic.

If they know what's in it but...sssshhh, I didn't tell them.

 

[pargyle]

The

They will easily eat through the plastic.

The grubs will eat through just about anything... I've seen timber hives riddled with holes where the grubs have burrowed in and what the did to a poly nuc that I had in storage had to be seen to be believed - totally destroyed it.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The


The grubs will eat through just about anything... I've seen timber hives riddled with holes where the grubs have burrowed in and what the did to a poly nuc that I had in storage had to be seen to be believed - totally destroyed it.

Probably greater waxmoth then, the lesser isn't quite as destructive when it comes to hive hardware.

 

[janetbee]

The


The grubs will eat through just about anything... I've seen timber hives riddled with holes where the grubs have burrowed in and what the did to a poly nuc that I had in storage had to be seen to be believed - totally destroyed it.

I don't think the adult moths will eat through plastic so if you put them in sealed plastic when there are no eggs or larvae already the supers you should be OK. The adults can squeeze through any little *****, though. You could freeze the extracted supers in a sealed bag and leave them in it after the freezing process until they are needed. The grubs definitely eat through plastic if they are on the inside.
It is said that wax moth do not like "wet" supers. I find that hard to believe as they will go for full supers, even where there has been no brood.
I have bought a small chest freezer specially for the purpose. Trouble is that some of the smaller chest freezers don't take supers well because of their shape. Mine is a squarer shape. I went into Curry's with an empty super to test the fit. I leave them in for a minimum of 48 hrs- just to be sure, to be sure.
I have made this mistake more than once with supers not being extracted for long enough for the moths to invade- or maybe the eggs were in there at the outset. Didn't learn my lesson after the first disaster.
Moths are a big nuisance for storing comb and then there are mice.... nightmare- hey ho.

 

[bobthecob]

I bought the white version of this. Says sold out but if you put your name down it seems to come back into stock. So far so good.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/house...00cfb18-chest-freezer-black-10174952-pdt.html