Hive collapse and wax moth -- from a Newbee

[josbees]

I have two hives, one strong and one weak.  The weak hive is on its third queen but as of last week there were no eggs or larvae.  I decided to give her one more week and then combine hives if there was no change.  So I went in just now to check and maybe start that process.  The strong hive is still going gangbusters.  Opened up the weak hive and it is just full of wax moth larvae and webs.  There are maybe a few thousand bees left and no queen that I can see.  I can't believe this happened so fast, within one week.  And I probably just didn't know what I was looking at last week -- I feel so bad for the girls. 

So my question is this -- how do I deal with this hive?  I need to get rid of the foundation and maybe the frames since they are beyond help.  I don't want to chance a combine with the few remaining bees since that might transfer over the moth issue to my good hive.  Should I just take this haive somewhere far away and let it die on its own or should I do something to speed the process along and get rid of the moth infestation before it can transfer to the good hive?

Any help you can give would be truly appreciated.  I am totally at a loss here.....

[Bee-Bop]

Read the Bt. Aizawai, posts

Could perhaps be of help, just be sure and read ALL the info. aviliable, works great on "apples" !!   ;)    :-X

Bee-Bop

[annette]

Just went through the same thing last month. I shook them out on the ground and they drifted into the strong hive.

No worry about spreading any disease from wax moths. I removed all the frames and cut out the really bad ones and froze the frames that weren't all that bad.

The wax moths will not bother your strong hive. The moths are always around bee hives but the strong hive will stay on top of removing them.

They only get out of control in  the weak hives.

I also would air out all your equipment, hive stands, bottom boards, supers, etc. in the sun. The sun and air kills the wax moths.

Hope this helps
Annette

[josbees]

Thanks everyone.  I'll shake 'em out tomorrow.

[Zane]

I had wax worms in my weakest hive a week ago. I had some BT Aizawai for my fruit tree's(and bee's). I pulled the destroyed comb and sprayed the new frames then sprayed the surrounding area. I then sprayed them buggers on the trashed comb and they acted like they where dieing quickly!!!!
Good luck they can do alot of damage quickly!

[SgtMaj]

You can freeze the frames the kill the wax moths, but the comb is likely beyond repair... but that's what they make solar wax melters for, right?

If you only had a queen you could still save this hive with a bit of work, but without a queen, it would be very difficult and would significantly weaken your strong hive.

[ArmucheeBee]

Make sure you cut down your entrance on weak hives.  I cut mine down to only 1 inch with a screened BB.

[tillie]

When I had a dead hive and wax moths, I froze the frames, cut out the messiest comb, and put what was left in a hive - they went straight to work and turned it into good comb - I did cut out the worst part first, though - seemed a shame to make them do that much housecleaning!

Linda T in Atlanta

[Zane]

Does anyone use the BT powder for treatment or preventative? Ive read alot or possitive things about it and actually use it on my fruit trees and gardens this year and it works great w/o killing my bees!

[rast]

Until it happens to you, It's hard to believe how much damage they can do so quickly in a weak hive. I learned the hard way also this past spring. Unless it's a real strong hive, I want a very small entrance.

[annette]

Does anyone use the BT powder for treatment or preventative? Ive read alot or possitive things about it and actually use it on my fruit trees and gardens this year and it works great w/o killing my bees!

I did use it on some frames in a hive that was having problems. There were a few frames left that wax moths were still laying on and I sprayed those frames.  So far nothing else occurred. It could also be that the bees got stronger and got rid of them. I will know more tomorrow when I go into this hive.