Wax Moth Larvae on inspection board, what next?

[Bee Bob Delux]

Had the inspection board in for a couple of days as treating with HiveClean & monitoring drop.

This morning found 2 larvae, one alive on pulling the board....

I planned to do full inspection today & final HiveClean trickle

Not sure what to do next, totally unexpected & no previous experience of the problem, if its a problem at all.

Reading up as much as I can today...any immediate practical management advise much appreciated....

Nosema, Verroa, now Moths... just need the farmer spray the Rape with something really nasty & I'll have a CCD full set, how brilliant is that in my first year! :-(

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Nosema, Verroa, now Moths... just need the farmer spray the Rape with something really nasty & I'll have a CCD full set, how brilliant is that in my first year! :-(

You'll be the first one in Europe to have CCD then - something you know that we don't know about the American 'phenomenon' then?

 

[Anduril]

Had the inspection board in for a couple of days as treating with HiveClean & monitoring drop.

This morning found 2 larvae, one alive on pulling the board....

I planned to do full inspection today & final HiveClean trickle

Not sure what to do next, totally unexpected & no previous experience of the problem, if its a problem at all.

Reading up as much as I can today...any immediate practical management advise much appreciated....

Nosema, Verroa, now Moths... just need the farmer spray the Rape with something really nasty & I'll have a CCD full set, how brilliant is that in my first year! :-(

As long as your colony is very strong you have nothing to worry about. Between the inspection board and the mesh is a favourite place for wax moth. When you have a chance have a look under the floor (removing it for inspection not sliding yourself under the hive). You should see a little bit of burrowing in the wood, typical wax moth damage of cedar floors.

 

[pargyle]

Strong colonies usually cope with wax moth and whilst you do occasionally find them on the inspection board the bees will sort them out if they try and get in the comb - keep your eye open when you inspect for the trace lines that wax moth larvae leave as they much their way through the comb - the bees often won't use the cells that have been damaged at the base by wax moth. Hopefully, you won't see any signs ... if you do, remove the infected combs and put them in the freezer for a couple of days.

Always look in the corners and crevices for the wax moth grubs, they love to squeeze into a nice tight crevice and pupate. Hive tool, blade end ... dead grub !

Ahh - Anduril beat me to the keyboard !!

 

[oliver90owner]

Excuse me for saying so, but you are seeming to be trying to be sensationalist.

Virtually all colonies have varroa; virtually all colonies exhibit nosema on microscopy diagnosis and virtually all beeks have had wax moth in their hives at some time or another. So nothing special or out of the realms of normality. As for CCD - maybe read JBM's post again.

As said above, strong colonies will defeat most of these ailments, perhaps with some simple intervention from the beekeeper.

Now, greater or smaller of the wax moths. Treatment rather depends on the amount present and the condition of the colony.

My experience is that once in the brood wax, they are fairly safe from the attention of the bees. There are obvious signs of tracking across the frames and minor infestation is easily managed. You should not get to the stage of larvae burrowing into the hive fabric.

Only been in two days you say? Not a user of snake oils for varroa control, but only two days seems fairly pointless to me, but everyone to their own, I suppose.

 

[Bosleeu]

You most likely have nothing to worry about.

 

[Bee Bob Delux]

You most likely have nothing to worry about.

Thank you that's all I needed to hear..... and reading more today I understand what I should & shouldn't expect.

I may appear paranoid but everything that could go wrong has so far in may foray in to the art of Beeking has...

What doesn't help is sanctimonious replies to an obviously confused newbe asking for help...

Perhaps that's why this forum has limited appeal to the next generation of Beeks...

 

[pargyle]

What doesn't help is sanctimonious replies to an obviously confused newbe asking for help...

Perhaps that's why this forum has limited appeal to the next generation of Beeks...

Don't think so ... Nearly 12000 members now... it is what it is .. not everyone likes the style but it's still a lot better than all the rest.

More importantly, it's active and fresh and there's always an instant answer whatever time of the day or night .. can be confusing at times as there are a diverse set of beekeeping methods and opinions - but its helped me enormously to form the way I keep my bees and I think it's a very tolerant place and you usually get honest answers. You might not always like them but the knack is to not take it personally.

 

[Bee Bob Delux]

Strong colonies usually cope with wax moth and whilst you do occasionally find them on the inspection board the bees will sort them out if they try and get in the comb - keep your eye open when you inspect for the trace lines that wax moth larvae leave as they much their way through the comb - the bees often won't use the cells that have been damaged at the base by wax moth. Hopefully, you won't see any signs ... if you do, remove the infected combs and put them in the freezer for a couple of days.

Always look in the corners and crevices for the wax moth grubs, they love to squeeze into a nice tight crevice and pupate. Hive tool, blade end ... dead grub !

Ahh - Anduril beat me to the keyboard !!

Thank you for your original helpful reply and have followed your advice.....

 

[Bosleeu]

Thank you that's all I needed to hear..... and reading more today I understand what I should & shouldn't expect.

I may appear paranoid but everything that could go wrong has so far in may foray in to the art of Beeking has...

What doesn't help is sanctimonious replies to an obviously confused newbe asking for help...

Perhaps that's why this forum has limited appeal to the next generation of Beeks...

You are very welcome.

Don't let the tone of some put you off. In any group of so many people you will get some that have different ways than you.

Some seem to like being what I would consider condescending, never take it personally.

You can learn a lot from here.





Take the good and ignore the bad.

 

[busybee53]

When you are inspecting a frame which shows evidence of wax moth you can sometimes find the larvae by following the line where it has been. You can also tap on the frame side bar and the wax moth larvae will start coming out of the wax towards you. Kill any you find.

You can also put up wax moth traps. A crushed banana skin and a drop of vinegar in water. Put this in a container with a small hole at the top and hang in apiary. Wax moths should be attracted to the trap and drown instead of getting in the hives.

Good luck.

 

[beecology]

Thank you that's all I needed to hear..... and reading more today I understand what I should & shouldn't expect.

I may appear paranoid but everything that could go wrong has so far in may foray in to the art of Beeking has...

What doesn't help is sanctimonious replies to an obviously confused newbe asking for help...

Perhaps that's why this forum has limited appeal to the next generation of Beeks...

There are idiots in all walks of life - beekeeping forums are no different. There is no excuse for rudeness, but it may be a result of a bad upbringing where common decency was not taught. The apologists are just as bad.

Maybe there's an agenda to actively discourage new beeks and squash any bright eyed, bushy tailed enthusiasm as quickly as possible?

Anyway, enjoy the forum, believe it or not, there are a number of top beeks on here who offer great, friendly and polite advice - even to loathsome beginners

 

[pargyle]

There are idiots in all walks of life - beekeeping forums are no different. There is no excuse for rudeness, but it may be a result of a bad upbringing where common decency was not taught. The apologists are just as bad.

Maybe there's an agenda to actively discourage new beeks and squash any bright eyed, bushy tailed enthusiasm as quickly as possible?

Anyway, enjoy the forum, believe it or not, there are a number of top beeks on here who offer great, friendly and polite advice - even to loathsome beginners

I've not really noticed any hidden agendas ... as an off the wall beekeeper - even from my beginning beekeeping (probably a bit of a mistake) I've never had any discouragement on here for my novel ideas ... (well - Finman excepted !). Critical comments from people who have had experience and helpful advice has been mostly my experience but I think, sometimes, that it's the way you phrase a question and the background information that you provide - if you appear to have thought about something and have some sort of a plan you are less likely to get the one line put downs ... Compared to some forums this one is very good natured. I'm no apologist for rudeness and it does occasionally get a bit personal - but the easiest way to stop that is to stop responding ...