Wax moth in Beehives

Natures way of tidying up

But if they are allowed to get established in a hive or any beeswax, such as stored frames etc. they can ruin a lot of comb in a short space of time. So far I have only found them on the floor board under the mesh floors. If you squish them and put them on the bird table the birds soon sort them out! This summer (2009) I was away for seven weeks and was unable to look at the hives for up to 10 weeks, some of the stronger colonies create a lot of debris which gathers under the mesh floor on the yellow Correx insert and this debris seemed to be heaven for the wax moths and their caterpillars, though I never found any in the actual hives as the colonies seemed strong enough to keep them at bay.

Wax Moth Larvae live on beeswax. They are very usefull in the wild because they destroy the comb of dead or dying colonies. By doing this they remove potential sources of infection before another swarm finds the location and sets up home. They are active between teperatures of 15^oC to 30^oC. One of the best treatments is to feeze the comb for an hour or two.