Welcome, Guest

Author Topic: some more wax moth questions  (Read 1236 times)

Offline rober

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 710
  • Gender: Male
some more wax moth questions
« on: June 09, 2013, 01:47:51 pm »
can moths fit thru a 1/8" hdwe cloth mesh? do they prefer frames with honey & pollen? i'm asking because when i treated the frames  with BT i stacked them on some saw horses in the sun so they could dry. i had an 1/8" dble screen under & on top of the brood boxes to keep the girls out. these were left out overnight which is when the moths are most active. the boxes were then stored in a shed. in this same shed there are supers full of drawn comb that are covered & have moth crystals on them. there are also some loose frames of drawn out comb & a bucket full of last years cappings & some burr comb. the brood boxes have the only infested frames. the supers &, loose frames, & burr comb were untouched. i'm thinking the moths got into those boxes thru the screen while they were outside drying since they were the only frames infested by the moths. the frames in the supers were cleaned out by the bees after i extracted & then frozen so they were fairly clean.

Offline sc-bee

  • Super Bee
  • *****
  • Posts: 2985
Re: some more wax moth questions
« Reply #1 on: June 09, 2013, 04:48:02 pm »
They do not limit themselves too but... do prefer frames that have had brood in them. This is a defense some folks use for running queen excluders. You should not have to worry about covering supers with screen to protect from wax moth that have been protected with bt,
Now field mice that is a different story.
John 3:16

Offline rober

  • Field Bee
  • ***
  • Posts: 710
  • Gender: Male
Re: some more wax moth questions
« Reply #2 on: June 09, 2013, 09:29:54 pm »
as i mentioned in a previous post every infested frame had recently been treated with bt. the screens were there to keep the bees out. my question is whether the moths can get thru 1/8" screen. these same frames were just frozen again to kill the larva & now some are starting to mold. i cleaned off the mold & stacked them to dry just as i did the 1st time. while i was out there was was a heavy rain. i pulled the frames & shook the water out so it looks like they'll be back in the same scenario. stacked outside & screened top & bottom to dry.

 

anything