I have a confession to make – I have been growing wax moths. I have done this as a bit of an experiment – to see just how long the moths would survive. In the past I have also submerged scrapings in water, buried the stuff, or have burned it. If one kept chickens, I suppose they could benefit from pecking at the larva, but I am not where I could do this.
In early summer - I removed wax moth fouled comb from a failed hive and disposed of it in a compost/recycle bin. This is a plastic bin, open to the bottom, with a removable lid, which is meant to sit over a hole you would dig into the ground. It is designed for you to discard any vegetative kitchen scraps that you want to turn into compost.
I placed my bin on top of a large compost pile – where it can get lots of warm sun, and where it is well drained thru the compost below it. This should be a nearly perfect environment for the wax moth. Each time I add new kitchen waste, which is generally once a week - I have been opening it, making my deposit, and quickly closing it before the wax moths fly out, and over to my hives. For over two months – I have seen gads of moths fly up to escape upon each opening. I plan to keep this up thru spring – to see if I still find moths from eggs they would have laid this year.
My preliminary conclusion here is that one should always burn or freeze – and not simply discard, nor bury any unwanted comb – lest it contribute to a wax moth population increase.
Any guesses as to whether or not I will have wax moths come spring from the setup?