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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

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  • From: Lewis Cauble <lewis AT hivebody.com>
  • To: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org (NC Beekeepers Orange County)
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Wax Moth (Galleria Mellonella) Infestation!
  • Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:33:39 -0500

Jeff,
My Beekeeper's Handbook indicates that you should freeze the frames at 20 degrees for 4.5 hours. The winter cold should have taken care of the moths at this point, assuming the equipment was outside. You should be good to go. Just clean up the frames and slap some new foundation in them.

For what it's worth, my Beekeeper's Handbook also recommends using fire ants to clean up infested combs. They also describe the wax moth as naturally beneficial, because they destroy diseased comb of feral colonies. They go on to say that they are a valuable commodity, used as fish bait and pet food for reptiles and exotic animals and are often a secondary business to many beekeepers.

Bottom line regarding this advice...No warranty written or implied. Your milage may vary. Offer not valid in all states.

Cheers,

Lewis


On Feb 23, 2009, at 9:34 PM, Jeff Bollinger wrote:


Hi everyone - we knew that we had a wax moth problem going into the winter
back in December, and since our hive was dead and we got busy we never
really had a chance to get into our dead hive and take a look. I finally
went in this past weekend and took some pics of the wax moth infestation
in one of our beehives:

http://www.theocba.org/gallery2/v/Bollinger/waxmoths/

Question - I've been reading that the only way to be certain the moths (of
all stages: egg, larval, etc.) is to freeze your frames and hive
bodies/supers in a deep freeze for a long period.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how we can reclaim this hive and
start using it again this Spring? Would it be worthwhile to clean up all
these frames (about 50) and boxes (2 deep and 3 med. supers) or should I
just buy some fresh frames with new foundation? Or barring that, does
anyone have a large deep freezer I can occupy briefly? :)

Thanks,
Jeff
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