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ocba - Re: [ocba] SHB or Wax Moth

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Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • To: Valerie Bateman <vbateman AT aol.com>
  • Cc: Orange County Beekeepers Association <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] SHB or Wax Moth
  • Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2014 12:51:15 -0400

Wax moth larvae are caterpillars. They have feet along their entire bodies. When they move, they often do so in inch-worm fashion. Their color ranges from white to greyish white, depending on age. They leave burrows underneath the cells that trail across frames. Later they leave cottony webbing between frames.

Small hive beetles are beetles. They only have feet on the first few segments behind their heads. So they drag their bodies around in the same manner that slugs do. Their color ranges from white to brownish, depending on age. They leave a nasty slime all over the comb that repels bees. (Remember when Bill Murray got slimed in "Ghost Busters"? Same sort of thing.)

Both adult wax moths and adult hive beetles will be in and around your hives. Given a chance, a strong hive keeps them under control, just as you keep squirrels and raccoons from taking over your own home. However a weak hive with too much space per bee to defend can easily be overcome. Seeing adults isn't an issue, but seeing larvae means the control efforts have collapsed and the hive will soon be overwhelmed. The hive perishes because it was weak and couldn't defend itself; the moths or beetles are just minor actors in the final scene of the tragedy.

Keep your hives healthy (treat at least once a year for varroa mites with a genuinely effective treatment such as ApiGuard or MiteAway Quick Strips), keep them in full sun, don't give them too much space to defend, and you should be fine. This late in the year and with the cooler fall temperatures, I  recommend MAQS and a lot of finger-crossing for people who have neglected varroa treatments and are trying to play catch-up.

Make sure you don't accidentally create safe pockets in the hive for the beasties to breed out of reach of the bees. I did that once by smashing two lopsided, overstuffed, honey-filled frames together such that the bees couldn't patrol the surface near the center. After a couple of days I had SHB wigglers feasting on the middle of the frame. Fortunately this was noticed quickly and didn't get out of hand. The problem was easily resolved by simply removing those frames, thus restoring the ability of the bees to take care of their own home.

Randall Austin



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