Wax Moth on Stored frames

[Forester Doug]

Hi there,

I seem to have had light wax moth infestation on some of my stored frames. There seems to be very little damage, and I assume as these are not in use they struggled to survive. As I believe they need proteins and such provided by the absent bees.

There is no sign of larva or adults, is this safe to use in my hive this year? Or is it best to change the foundation? I have heard they can transmit some disease.

 

[Jimmy]

Hi there,

I seem to have had light wax moth infestation on some of my stored frames. There seems to be very little damage, and I assume as these are not in use they struggled to survive. As I believe they need proteins and such provided by the absent bees.

There is no sign of larva or adults, is this safe to use in my hive this year? Or is it best to change the foundation? I have heard they can transmit some disease. View attachment 25926

If that's the worst damage then a strong colony will readily clean that up. You could put the frame in a -20 freezer for 24 hours to make sure that you weren't introducing a frame of wax moth eggs to your hive first though.

 

[pargyle]

Yes that's wax moth ... doesn't look too bad ... if you take a vacuum cleaner to the frames and suck the webs off then you can reuse them ... it makes it easier for the bees as they seen to struggle a bit with the webs. Just check for any cocoons tucked away and destroy them as well ... if necessary cut out any bits of comb that have been damaged with tracks and the bees will re build them.

I don't think there are any bee diseases vectored by wax moth ...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

They're fine - bees will sort that out (put a lot worse than that back on) and don't worry about any moth eggs, a strong colony will soon sort them out as well

 

[Forester Doug]

Thanks for all the information, I'll give it a hoover before putting it back in.

 

[BeeJam]

Yes that's wax moth ... doesn't look too bad ... if you take a vacuum cleaner to the frames and suck the webs off then you can reuse them ... it makes it easier for the bees as they seen to struggle a bit with the webs. Just check for any cocoons tucked away and destroy them as well ... if necessary cut out any bits of comb that have been damaged with tracks and the bees will re build them.

I don't think there are any bee diseases vectored by wax moth ...

Ah good idea - I'd have put that frame in my "to melt" pile - will have to try vacc'ing them in future

 

[Heather]

Have to say I would probably dump that as dark comb anyway.. more likely to be disease in the comb. But if urgently needed, then, freeze , as suggested then use.

 

[user 819]

Deleted as I replied to wrong thread.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

more likely to be disease in the comb.

How can you tell that?

 

[pargyle]

How can you tell that?

It's obvious ... every BBKA member knows that any comb that's more than 2 years old is always full of disease and is good for nothing but firelighters ... I noticed a frame, at my last inspection, in one of my colonies, that had 2012 written on it .... I thought I'd better take it out and burn it but unfortunately my stupid queen had filled it wall to wall with brood ... so I gave her a good ticking off and told her to read up on what she should be doing ...

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

How could we sleep easily at night without them feeding us these nuggets of wisdom?

 

[victor meldrew]

They're fine - bees will sort that out (put a lot worse than that back on) and don't worry about any moth eggs, a strong colony will soon sort them out as well

80% glacial acetic acid soon sorts wax moth out !