After freezing my medium honey frames last fall, I stored them in plastic bags and placed them in my garage. Took them out last week and found that wax moths have damaged one of them; both have some webbing.
After searching this site on handling wax moth damage, it appears that I can freeze the frames again and then put them on my strongest hive for the bees to finish cleaning up and repairing them.
Question: Since the first freezing didn't appear to kill the wax moths, how long should I freeze the frames this time?
It seems to me that wax moths got into the combs once you took them out of the freezer and put them in the garage.
48 hours of freezing temps should kill them.
...JP
JP is correct on the time, I usually only freeze for 24 hours, but if you wanted to make sure go with 48.
You don't need to freeze before you put them on the super though, the bees will clean it out even if the wax moth larvae isn't dead.
Thanks!
I have put 5 of the 10 frames in the freezer to "cure". That's as many as my small freezer will hold.
I'm going to have to replace a couple of the other 5 frames though....................a raccoon or possum ate the comb out of one of the frames that I had left outside in the driveway! He didn't seem to mind the wax moth damage!
Lol, they never do!