Wax moth invasion

[fast_muchly]

Hi
Would like advice on how to go about clearing up the mess which is all my fault and a huge lesson learned !! .

Caught quite a big swarm this summer popped it into a brood and a half and while at like a complete fool I stuck on 2 supers above the QE with DRAWN comb ( big mistake ) .

3 weeks ago all was fine they were popping honey into the top part of the brood chamber all going well .

3 weeks later I opened up the hive to UTTER devastation , you will think im over exaggerating there must be around 100 to 200 grubs and around at least 50 adult wax moths crawling around totally and utterly destroyed everything , everything all gunked up . Its HEARTBREAKING to see , the swarm I caught was very big and strong now reduced to this and it being my fault .

I now know the importance of keeping the hive to the actual useage of the bees , but what I was trying to do was give them plenty of space as its quite a big swarm but what a mistake to make .

Im basically at now stripping everything down , cutting out all the foundation and chucking it , would you boil or freeze the frames and send for more foundation ? . Also going to put the super frames and brood frames inside a bag and pop them in freezer for a few days . Anything else to recommend bar a massive kick up the backside for myself .

Thx

Alan

 

[Erichalfbee]

Personally I would use all the frames as firelighters and start afresh with Thorne winter sale.

 

[pargyle]

Yes ... it's a devastating sight ... I've had a colony that was too weak to defend from the moth ... fortunately I got to it early but I made a further mistake of cutting out the moth .. and leaving the frames in an empty poly nuc and the bloody grubs destroyed that as well burrowing into the poly ! What a mess..

You should be aware that there may be eggs laid in every nook and cranny ... flame timber boxes and polys need to be thoroughly cleaned and then sprayed with one of the wax moth treatments .. they prevent the larvae developing but won't do anything about moths so
Make sure you squash any cocoons. The frames I would boil if you can... in washing soda...there have been instance where freezing has not got all the eggs.

The wax has usually gone as the grubs eat it very quickly but any frames where there is decent comb can be rendered down to recover the wax.

It's all a horrible experience but it's a mistake you will only make once. I feel your pain...

 

[enrico]

Been there and done that. And then I lost about twenty stored boxes too. Never again! Wax moth is a horrible thing and you have to keep on top of it.
Best of luck for the future.
E

 

[Swarm]

Seems to be a rise in their numbers recently, I wonder if it has anything to do with the announcement that they can eat plastic?

 

[pargyle]

Seems to be a rise in their numbers recently, I wonder if it has anything to do with the announcement that they can eat plastic?

Well ..they have absolutely no problem eating wood and poly so perhaps they are the answer to the world plastic problem !

 

[Beefriendly]

Which is exactly what is being suggested.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-00593-y

"Wax moth (Galleria mellonella) caterpillars live in beehives, feeding on honey and wax. Paolo Bombelli and Christopher Howe at the University of Cambridge, UK, and Federica Bertocchini at the University of Cantabria in Spain noticed that plastic bags holding the caterpillars quickly developed holes. To investigate, the team observed the caterpillars on polyethylene film in the laboratory, and found that about 100 of them could degrade 92 milligrams of the plastic in around 12 hours — a much higher rate than that achieved by microbes known to break down polyethylene. Homogenized caterpillar cells had the same effect, showing that the creatures are digesting the plastic, not just chewing it."

 

[pargyle]

Which is exactly what is being suggested.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-00593-y

"Wax moth (Galleria mellonella) caterpillars live in beehives, feeding on honey and wax. Paolo Bombelli and Christopher Howe at the University of Cambridge, UK, and Federica Bertocchini at the University of Cantabria in Spain noticed that plastic bags holding the caterpillars quickly developed holes. To investigate, the team observed the caterpillars on polyethylene film in the laboratory, and found that about 100 of them could degrade 92 milligrams of the plastic in around 12 hours — a much higher rate than that achieved by microbes known to break down polyethylene. Homogenized caterpillar cells had the same effect, showing that the creatures are digesting the plastic, not just chewing it."

Now if only genetic modification could cross a wax moth with something a bit larger ... like a Python ... you could measure the plastic digested in tonnes not milligrams ...

 

[Millet]

Which is exactly what is being suggested.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-00593-y

"Wax moth (Galleria mellonella) caterpillars live in beehives, feeding on honey and wax. Paolo Bombelli and Christopher Howe at the University of Cambridge, UK, and Federica Bertocchini at the University of Cantabria in Spain noticed that plastic bags holding the caterpillars quickly developed holes. To investigate, the team observed the caterpillars on polyethylene film in the laboratory, and found that about 100 of them could degrade 92 milligrams of the plastic in around 12 hours — a much higher rate than that achieved by microbes known to break down polyethylene. Homogenized caterpillar cells had the same effect, showing that the creatures are digesting the plastic, not just chewing it."

What comes out the other end though..plastic pellets maybe..

 

[Erichalfbee]

Now if only genetic modification could cross a wax moth with something a bit larger ... like a Python ... you could measure the plastic digested in tonnes not milligrams ...

GMOs are coming with our USA trade deal.....so you never know

 

[Beefriendly]

GMOs are coming with our USA trade deal.....so you never know

Already here and have been for many years

 

[Erichalfbee]

Already here and have been for many years

Pythons that eat plastic?

 

[pargyle]

Pythons that eat plastic?

I reckon that idea has legs ...

 

[Helen]

And after the zillions of grubs have eaten their fill of plastic (if this is industrialised), will they let the moths go into the wild yonder, looking for beehives to invade?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I reckon that idea has legs ...

A python with legs!!! now that is really worrying.

 

[Apiarisnt]

Yes ... it's a devastating sight ......
You should be aware that there may be eggs laid in every nook and cranny ... flame timber boxes and polys need to be thoroughly cleaned and then sprayed with one of the wax moth treatments .. they prevent the larvae developing but won't do anything about moths so

It's all a horrible experience but it's a mistake you will only make once. I feel your pain...

Try Dipel DF, £37 for 500g off fleabay. It is Bacillus Thuringiensis Kurstaki, whereas Certan / B401 is Bacillus Thuringiensis Aizawai. Similarly effective but a minute fraction of the price. It is widely used on all sort of vegetables so safe for humans as well as bees.

 

[Beefriendly]

Pythons that eat plastic?

GMOs

 

[Beefriendly]

A python with legs!!! now that is really worrying.

They have vestigial legs...

"Snakes don't have legs, right? Wrong--look closely! Pythons and boa constrictors have tiny hind leg bones buried in muscles toward their ...."
https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/da...ow-living-things-are-related/vestigial-organs

 

[Erichalfbee]

They have vestigial legs...

"Snakes don't have legs, right? Wrong--look closely!

Is that like legs that work or legs that used to work?

 

[Beefriendly]

Is that like legs that work or legs that used to work?

Evolution...you can debate which ways it's going.