Hey! I am brand new to beekeeping. Like started 3 days ago haha! I have always been interested in bees and have researched for the last 5 years. My beekeeper friend was going to sell me some of his hives, but he ended up giving me them for free because they got wax moths. I didn’t see any signs of living larvae, moths or beetles. I took them home and scraped them with my hive tool, soaked them in bleach water, scrubbed them with dawn dish soap, and sanded them. I plan on torching them tomorrow and then repainting. Any other tips? Thank you!
1 Like
welcome to the forum Lindsay, lot of reading here and some nice folks happy to pass on good advice.
It sounds like you have done everything right to get rid of any wax moth and their eggs. You can render down the wax as it is worth keeping till you have enough to sell.
Cheers
1 Like
Thank you Peter48! I did collect the wax as I was cleaning, and melted it and filtered it. I am in love already haha!
2 Likes
Well done Lindsay, I agree with @Peter48. What you’ve done is exactly what I do. I even clean the frames up. However going by the amount of wax moth cocoons in your photo, they may have chewed big enough holes in the frames to render the odd one useless.
You’re on the right track & I reckon you’ll make a good beekeeper.
cheers
2 Likes
Thanks JeffH. I did try and clean a lot of the frames but some of them did have holes through to the other side, so those ones I tossed aside. I also puchased a 40 quart pot for outside use only that should arrive this week, so that I can boil some of the frames and foundations later this week. I have 9 boxes and I am planning on buying 2 nucs to make 2 hives. If I need to buy more boxes then I can. I ordered 20 deep frames and 20 medium frames to start. I already have 10 medium frames that are great condition and 20 deep frames that need work. But I will get there!
1 Like
Alright, I’ve finished! I am hopefully wax moth free! I’ve got everything painted and ready to move to the very back of my property away from my kids haha. Thank you for the help! I am so happy to be here 
2 Likes
Is that a single brood box on the left and a double on the right? Going on the possible position of the QX’s. I would think of raising the hives up off the ground so the brood box is at an easier height for your inspections. If you haven’t installed the bees yet I would just run a single brood box and monitor the colony for needing more bee space as it builds up in strength.
Pink hives, well it is different 
Cheers
I think I have it settled. I will do 2 deep broods on both hives and then medium honey boxes if we get that far. I will start with the 1 deep brood on each til it is 80% full and then add another one. But how will the bees know to stop making brood and start making honey? Does that make sense?
As for the pink… it’s kind of the theme here haha!!
Hi Lindsay, pink is good.
Like @Peter48 says, “there’s no such thing as a silly question”. Each colony will have it’s own agenda as to how much brood they want & where to start storing honey. In other words, they just know. It’s also dependent on the time of season. They expand the brood during spring & constrict it during autumn. As they constrict the brood, they lower the honey arc. When they expand the brood, they raise the honey arc. Also in doing so, some of the frames that were used to store 100% honey will gradually get used to raise more brood.
That makes sense. Thank you!!
1 Like