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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • To: Brad Kosiba <bradkosiba AT gmail.com>
  • Cc: Orange County Beekeepers Association <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Wax moths
  • Date: Sun, 9 Jul 2017 15:31:52 -0400

Brad,

Re: "ours is well sealed so no mice so far": I used to be a fan of the bag method with regard to storing surplus brood frames but I've sworn off trash bags after this past winter. I had several deeps' worth of brood frames that were frozen then double bagged in large leaf-type trash bags, then stored in my basement. Critters of some sort, probably bugs of some kind or maybe curious mice, ate little holes in the bags and the result after several months of storage was a terrible mess. I knew something was up when masses of gnats started appearing.

In future, for brood frames, instead of trash bags, I'm going to use super-sized bins like you can get at WalMart for about $10. Duct tape around the rims should ensure security against pests. These will ONLY be used for frames/comb that has had brood in it at some point (dark comb from the brood chamber).

Wax-only comb (from honey supers) is much easier to store, as described in my article & Walter's post. Air and light are sufficient as pest deterrents for pure wax. Wax-only combs can do well with the bag method if the bags aren't compromised. And even if they are, hopefully nobody is interested enough in snacking on pure wax to cause major problems (never say never but that's the way to bet). It is the old cocoons and embedded pollen that make the best meal for bugs.

Randall

 
On 7/9/2017 1:13 PM, Brad Kosiba wrote:
I take a medium full of well-cleaned frames, bag it in a strong trash bag, tie it tightly closed with a zip tie, freeze it all for two nights and then store it under the house in the crawl space. At that point the only worry is mice, but ours is well sealed so no mice so far.

Brad

On Jul 9, 2017 11:11 AM, "Mark Waller" <wallermarkw AT gmail.com> wrote:
What do you do with honey supers to keep wax moths away?  I’ve removed the honey, placed them back on the hive to be cleaned and don’t want to leave them there for fear of wax moths.  I don’t have enough freezer space in working freezers to place them all year.  I do have an old freezer, not working, but not  sure if that will be air tight enough.  Your thoughts please.  Thanks.





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