Guilfordbeekeepers.org

Well, I've lost 100% of my hives to absconding. It appears to be small hive beetles. The IPM board is covered in white worms. I've collected any remaining honey and tossed it in the freezer. However, I have about 75 frames of drawn comb that is still out in the yard. There are still some worms and SHB still in them. I'm not sure what I need to do at this point with them to protect them from wax moths, shb, and other pests. Is there something I can do to protect them? My first thought is to throw what I can in the freezer to kill any eggs. I'd like to throw them in the shed until next season, but I dont want the worms to have a thanksgiving feast with the wax until next year.

I would freeze them all. Put a super with frames in a large trash bag, seal all edges with duct tape. Freeze for 24 to 48 hours. Store bag in cool dry place, such as basement. Repeat, until all are done.

Excellent suggestion Wally. That is a great idea.
I've been reading about BT ( Bacillus thuringiensis) and how it can be applied to frames to treat and kill wax moths. I'm thinking about freezing for 72 hours in sub-zero temps and then treating with BT. I've never purchased BT before but willing to experiment. I'm looking at Bonide 803 Thuricide BT Insect Killer, 16-Ounce (http://amzn.com/B001D1H6SE). Any concerns?

I don't think BT is currently approved for use in beekeeping. The BT I am familiar with that some choose to use is Xentari. It is a dry product that is mixed in water and needs to be used quickly after a batch is mixed.

At the NCSBA meeting in Elon a few years back, one beekeeper related the complete failure of BT to protect recently extracted frames from wax moth damage when an approved form was available. The honey residue, being anti-bacterial, probably lessened the effectiveness of that BT product, which is bacterial in nature. In reading various posts at various locations, I have not heard of such a complete failure to protect when bees had been allowed to clean honey residues out of comb before the BT was applied.

Earlier discussions/information on the forum-- http://www.guilfordbeekeepers.org/commu ... +Were+None AND http://www.guilfordbeekeepers.org/commu ... f=4&t=1728

It says " which is specific to leaf eating caterpillars".

Wax moths aren't leaf eaters. I would contact forum member Zulu by PM and get some from him, go to Beez Needz, or see me. We all have the Zentari available.

I've opened my "aggressive" hive to find that they're gone. It looks like hive beetles, and now a strong cover of wax moths. The hive was full of pollen, and I had good hopes for it making it through the winter. I guess I'll toss it all in the freezer. Will I have to cut all the pollen out and start over next year? I'm ready to buy ALL chemicals to treat for pests. I'm tired of this.

At North Carolina State Beekeeper meetings in the past, some of the researchers who rear queens said they freeze pollen frames to use in queen rearing. If they are not in too bad shape, I would freeze them and put them back in a hive. When the pollen is bad and you put it into a strong hive, in front of the hive, you will see the chunks of pollen that the bees have removed.

I am now keeping pollen frames in the freezer if I take them off a hive. They are just too attractive to wax moths no matter what you do.

I totally have wax moths and hive beetles. Now I have ants in them. I sprayed for wax moths at the beginning of this year. It's a mess - but there's still a TON of pollen. How do I make sure they are safe to put into another hive next year?

Freeze your frames for a minimum of 3 days to kill small hive beetle and wax moth eggs and larvae. If the small hive beetles have not gotten too bad and slimed up too much of a frame, the bees will clean the frame up and use it. I put very badly wax mothed comb in a strong hive in early spring this past year. The bees cleaned out the debris before the flow, repaired the comb during the flow, and filled the frames with honey. Ants are not really a problem. Like wax moths and SHB, they are opportunistic and look for comb that is not being defended by the bees.

The frames that have large amounts of pollen in them need to remain in the freezer until used or you will need to come up with some other way to protect them. Wax moths seem to be able to lay eggs and the larvae tunnel in the pollen and avoid the BT treated portions of frames. Frames that have had nectar or honey that have been cleaned out by bees have very minor wax moth damage after BT application. The wax moth larvae eat the BT and it kills them, so don't be surprised to see small amounts of "silk" in those BT treated frames. This is what I observed when I saw BT treated frames.

About the only thing I would fear in re using comb would be American Foul Brood. If you were seeing ropy larvae in frames, sunken capped cells with openings, and a rotting meat odor, I would call Don Hopkins and have him inspect your hive and advise you what to do.