help - big wax moth larvae within a week

[tlynn]

Upon checking a weak hive this morning after 7 days I am seeing half dollar sized chew outs and half inch wax moth larvae.  Can I spray the BT on the hive frames?

[Michael Bush]

>Can I spray the BT on the hive frames?

Yes.  You can.

[tlynn]

Thanks, Michael.  Should I spray all frames or infested ones?

[Robo]

Spray them all.   Even the ones that don't look infected may have eggs in them that will start hatching.

[Michael Bush]

I'd spray them all and reduce the hive down to what they can manage.  Obviously they can't manage the space they have or the wax moths wouldn't be doing that well.

[tlynn]

They are down to brood box only.  I requeened last week due to a failing queen.  I had first found evidence of the wax moth larvae in their super.  Today I dug out the big larvae and squished them.  They seem to have tunneled under the pollen stores, because when I started digging I kept getting wider with the hive tool to expose more larvae.  All frames got misted.  The girls didn't seem to excited about that but were fine.

[tlynn]

Pictures of wax moth infestation - there was a big larvae in this tunnel...oh and for everyone up north here's a look at our beach today :-)

http://www.purplemangomedia.com/IMG_0653.JPG
http://www.purplemangomedia.com/IMG_0657.JPG
http://www.purplemangomedia.com/IMG_0658.JPG

[Michael Bush]

Maybe you should pull a couple of frames and put some foam on the outside edges of the hive.

[tlynn]

Maybe you should pull a couple of frames and put some foam on the outside edges of the hive.

Not sure I follow. You mean make the hive space even smaller?

[1of6]

TLynn,  Interesting...does he mean use the equivalent of follower boards in the outside slots?

Sorry to hear of your Wax Moth woes.  As you'll see from this evening's weather advisory, we're not having the same problem as you are up here...

"Very Cold Air Pouring Into The Region On Gusty West To Southwest Winds Will Cause Wind Chills To Drop To Around 15 Below Zero Late Tonight Through Monday Morning. Wind Gusts Of Around 40 Mph Will Be Common."

[tlynn]

Update - inspected the hive I sprayed with BT a week ago and had one large patch maybe 3 inches in diameter of larvae having a feast.  Nasty little buggers!  I am guessing that larvae buried deep into the frame may not ingest the BT and can proliferate even after spraying the frames.  That must be what's going on here, because the comb looked abnormal and when I nicked it with my hive tool they erupted.  It's like they had little highways right next to the foundation.They're getting a view of the inside of my freezer right now.  Good night!

http://www.purplemangomedia.com/IMG_0675.JPG (warning graphic content - yuck)

Nothing else has emerged from other places on frames where I dug out last time.  I think/hope this is the only pocket of infestation left and that any new larvae will succumb to the BT.

Also my new queen is not laying very much so I started feeding today to hopefully get her moving.  I think now is the time I wish I had more hives so I can throw in another frame of brood.  I have already taken one from my strong hive and don't want to weaken it.  I just don't know what else to do to get the hive back on track.  Maybe nothing.

[Michael Bush]

>You mean make the hive space even smaller?

Yes.

[tlynn]

Could I transfer bees and brood into a nuc for a while?  I hesitate because the nucs look different.  If they are put in the same place does it matter?

[Michael Bush]

>Could I transfer bees and brood into a nuc for a while?  I hesitate because the nucs look different.  If they are put in the same place does it matter?

That would probably work, but the foam does have two advantages.  One, it looks like the old hive because it is, and two, it adds insulation.  But if you have the nuc box already and you want to do that, it should work fine too.

[tlynn]

I'm bumming--I think I may lose this hive.  I found foam insulation at home depot (1"x4'x8') and as soon as it warms up a little more, should be mid 70s this weekend I was going to pull some frames and fill with foam as Michael Bush suggested.  Last night I looked up underneath and there was no bee ball visible.  A couple weeks ago the ball was about 3 frames wide.  My new queen hasn't been laying very much and there is only a little scattered capped brood (from last Sunday's check).  There may not be enough bees left to keep each other and the brood warm.

Thinking back to what I may have done wrong...I split the hive in the fall.  I added a second deep at the end of August and started a new hive with it in October.  That hive is doing very well.  I noticed after the split that my donor hive started dwindling in population soon after, and I just watched each week as fewer and fewer bees were coming and going.  I am wondering if it was the wrong time of the year to do this and also if I should have identified a problem sooner and requeened before the population got so low.

At this point I am afraid to pull any more brood from my healthy hive because I don't want to weaken it.  Any ideas on anything else I can do?

Also if it doesn't make it what should I do with the frames until I can start another hive?  Store them and get a package in the spring?  There probably will still be some drone cells and such and there is still a lot of pollen and some honey.  Good start ups for nucs?  I did have a wax moth infestation so I was thinking I should freeze them.  Just didn't figure dead bees in cells would be good.

Tracy

[1of6]

...At this point I am afraid to pull any more brood from my healthy hive because I don't want to weaken it.  Any ideas on anything else I can do?

Also if it doesn't make it what should I do with the frames until I can start another hive?  Store them and get a package in the spring?  There probably will still be some drone cells and such and there is still a lot of pollen and some honey.  Good start ups for nucs?  I did have a wax moth infestation so I was thinking I should freeze them.  Just didn't figure dead bees in cells would be good.

Tracy

If I were in your situation I would find myself trying to see if anything could be done to limp the weak hive through, and if you can't, you still have options like you said.  Your area is so much different than ours.

Combining this time of year in my area would probably not be successful, but in your area there may be a different outcome if you tried it.

If it dies, hold on to all that comb.  Freeze it just as you said in your other post, and then use it to add a package to, or give it to your strong colony and then do a split later.  If you can split earlier in the year you might have better luck, but again you'll have to gauge that off of what flows you have in your area (and when).  In 2007 my packages that I threw on already-drawn comb went like crazy.  If you clear the dead cluster out (if they die) and add to another strong colony, they'd clean out the dead bees very very quickly.  You could pull frames of brood up into the additional box to bait them up and you'd probably be very pleased with the results, or at least that's the way it's worked for me.  Boomers can be split quite easily and still yield a crop in most cases.

Hope this is helpful.

[tlynn]

Great.  Thanks for the advice 1of6.  I think combining with my strong hive is a good idea, if all else fails.  Then I can pull the box in the spring and requeen and be back in business.

I now see the value of more than 2 hives.  4 is my goal this year.