# Newbie starting from nothing, waiting for bees **URL:** \ **Category:** Beekeeping - Basics\ **Tags:** new-bees\ **Created:** [March 4, 2022, 12:55pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/newbie-starting-from-nothing-waiting-for-bees/32482 "2022-03-04T12:55:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 15
**Author:** ![griff0719](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.honeyflow.com/griff0719/32/29585_2.png) [@griff0719](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/griff0719)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/newbie-starting-from-nothing-waiting-for-bees/32482/15 "2022-09-16T14:30:39Z")
Well, i lost everything. there was a barrage of invaders: - small hive beetles: I put 2 beetle traps, it took a week or so, but they started falling for it and beetle population seemed to be under control - ants: I put ant traps outside the hive and 1 on the very top, above the lid. i also scattered granules on the ground around the stones which the hive sits on. ants went away within 1 day - wax moths: I did not realize it at the time, but I had an infestation of wax moths. It seems like they laid eggs in the comb, because of a weird pattern in the comb. i discovered a huge blob of worms at the base, I took everything out of the hive, cleaned it completely, and put the bees back in. Within 2 days there were worms on the bottom board again, so I started emptying the bottom board every single day for 1 week. ![75FBBBA5-3197-4A4B-A7B4-B44F2E1129EB_1_105_c](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/1/b/1b76e510e7f0ae148a6ff73bf2f3c690dc8a4c3f.jpeg) ![44C6C561-1DED-4AF1-ABFA-F4AB12F9B5ED_1_105_c](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/2/f/2f14be87642e17e2eea0b5751227409627eed768.jpeg) ![0E3A22BB-95C5-4B63-AC9F-BF67B1944F8F_1_105_c](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/d/a/dacb32cc13290c4414e37fac456dadcb41f23993.jpeg) After checking on the bees on Tuesday, I went on Wednesday and every single bee was gone. It seems that they evacuated the hive, it is a complete ghost town, because the moth eggs hatched and there are big worms in the comb now (previously they were only on the bottom board). It has disgusting cotton-like web all over it and looks like from a horror movie. ![0B0DCC35-1923-44AD-9F4A-7D0E87FCE445_1_102_o](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/f/e/fea113a4ac758852914c332aeddb52b0501f39fe.jpeg) ![7E362CD2-B451-4C53-AF2B-BFDEDED2D19E_1_102_o](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/0/b/0b9c7c8c19e481398ec949e6941b08bea051d1c0.jpeg) ![BEE51321-13FC-49AB-A23E-6B9D3C7B7F8B_1_102_o](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/e/4/e46be5b8c328dd612251da527f4e0224d6f7444e.jpeg) ![C4B19003-77EE-4DC5-A1B9-372D1A599764_1_102_o](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/honeyflow/original/3X/e/0/e0a067aa44ecbc92a4509192e367ef22e493eb5d.jpeg) Should I rip out everything from the hive, web, wax, and whatever else, burn it all, and hang up my hat? This was really devastating to me, and I don’t feel like I want to do anything now. Is there any chance whatsoever that they bees will come back to a clean hive? I saw another post where someone said their bees went back (however, not the same situation that I am in): [Bees coming back to old hive location](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/bees-coming-back-to-old-hive-location/33632) The comb is irrecoverable, so even if they came back, they would be started from absolutely nothing, which is even worse than starting with 5 frames in an 8-frame hive. --- _[View the full topic](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/newbie-starting-from-nothing-waiting-for-bees/32482)._