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  • From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • To: George Morris <juncus215 AT gmail.com>, ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] What to do?
  • Date: Mon, 01 Jun 2015 12:08:51 -0400

George,

If you do absolutely nothing, the wax moths will completely clean out those frames and you won't have anything left but a pile of yuck. Drawn comb is extremely valuable so you don't want that to happen. Freeze the frames to kill wax moth larva and eggs. Then store them in a dry, moth-proof container or in such a manner that they are exposed to lots of light and open air.

Just about every colony has a wax moth or two, so their presence doesn't condemn your honey. As long as there is nothing wrong with the honey (e.g., it hasn't fermented), then, well, there is nothing wrong with it. Taste it to see. If it is genuine honey and not "sugar-water honey", it is fine to extract for your own use. Either type (real or fake) is fine for saving for the bees later, either by extracting it or by leaving in the frames. If you keep it in the frames, freeze them first for several days and then store them in a bug-proof container. Put them back on the hive when you have bees again.

Randall

On 5/31/2015 1:31 PM, George Morris wrote:
I've lost a colony of bees that I could not get to re-queen and was invaded
with wax moths because they were weak.
Question 1- What do I do about the wax moths at this stage. Should I let it
go and reuse the hives and frames next year after we go through a winter or I
could treat the hive and frames now?
Question 2 - There were some honey stores in the hive, could/should I harvest
the capped honey from the hives if there is wax moth present?

Any advice is appriciated,
George Morris
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  • Re: [ocba] What to do?, Randall Austin, 06/01/2015

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