Wax moths: am I allowed to swear? Nope. Gotta learn

Wax moths are so gross, you’re allowed to swear. Good for you, catching them early!! The wasp trap I made last summer (banana peel in soda bottle) also attracted a few moths…they looked a lot like wax moths but it was a little hard to tell since they were drowned :smiling_imp:

3 Likes

Just to be sure Cowgirl- we see some small evidence of wax moth in all of our hives- mostly only ever on the coreflute slider. There is the odd grub- and the nasty little webs they make. In a strong hive it is quite normal to see some evidence of wax moths at the periphery- in any little gaps where they can hide and eek out a nasty little existence. If the colony is strong the bees stop them from ever getting into the combs like in your hive.

1 Like

I too had a nasty experience with wax moth, when doing my first cut out of a feral colony in a drum there was comb with web on it but I did not realise what it was. So I stupidly put it into the frames. I did not inspect properly (being a newbee) and they got infested and absconded. When I cleaned the hive out and froze the frames I scorched the inside of the super and found the wax moths had burrowed into the timber to make cocoons!
That’s an interesting tip about BT, I use it on my cabbages.

1 Like

Hi I have just discovered wax moth in one of my hives, which hasn’t been inspected for a few months, due to bad leg injury. Now I am horrified to find the single box flow form is all but ruined with the beasts, I have put a nun nearby with the one frame I see no moth on, and am hoping the bees will migrate there, I see no queen though. do I clean off all affected frames, and start anew? they have small crumbly areas, webbing all over in all bar 1…I am at a loss as to what my next step should be
thanks
Benison

Sorry that should have read NUC

Hi Isobel, it sounds like you need to clean everything out & start anew. The wax moth are just doing the job nature provides them for. It’s best to get onto it asap, because they can make deep grooves in the woodwork.

1 Like

Welcome, @Benison - sorry you’ve had this hideous discovery! Had a familiar experience and in my case there were only a handful of bees left and no queen either. It’s a losing battle for them once the moths are established. They’ll fight to the end though, most likely being the last ones to emerge after the rest of the colony absconded with the queen from that godawful mess :unamused:

So as Jeff says, you’re best off saving what equipment you can and hopefully helping the remaining bees join one of your other hives. Or are there enough numbers to give them a frame of eggs & young larvae from one of your other hives in that nuc?