I returned from my run tonight and noticed something odd. Probably 50-100 wax moth larve crawling across my floor. .5-1cm in size.
I sprayed the xentari a few weeks ago on every frame but I saw a few larve in a few frames then and froze them.
Well, I went through my 6 supers that were stacked in my garage and found 4 frames that had some level of infestation. None were more than about 25%. I put them in a couple plastic bags and put them in the freezer.
When I got to the bottom of the super stack there were alot more larve. I noticed they all were crawling to get under something like a box, cabinet, etc. I used some household bug spray on the large batch of them.
A Few questions.
1. Am I going to have a bunch of moths soon for those that got away?
2. Is it normal for the larve to leave the hive?
3. Not sure about the xentari. Most of the frames had not yet been touched. Not sure if these frame were just not sprayed well enough or maybe moths got them them before I sprayed them. ????/
4. Should I freeze all the frames now just to be sure?
Yuck!!!
Thanks.
Something must have run them out. They usually make a cocoon and turn into moth in the hive body. Really messes up the wood work.
I would freeze them all.
Are you sure that they were wax moth and not small hive beetle larvae?
Well, there was definately some webbing and I don't have an infestation of SHB but they could be. I need to look at some info on both and see.
Well, after looking at some pictures. I am fairly sure they were SHB. They were leaving the hive and crawling around looking for ground to burow in.
Does anyone know if freezing will kill the eggs and larve?
Yes, freezing will kill eggs/larvae of the shb. I'd freeze everything.