I am in the process of getting my hives ready for spring and discovered that some of the frames are covered in wax moth webbing as well as wax moth larva. even with the nasty winter we had they are still alive. have any of you ever cleaned them by filling a 5 gallon bucket with bleach and vinegar letting them soak then lightly brushing the webbing off and rinsing?
I have and it seems to work pretty well. it seems that the wax moth larva really like the pollen frames the most. they are much better than they were and I think the bleach should evaporate by the time April or May rolls around. Any thoughts? I know there are posts that say the bees will clean it up but its such a nasty mess and I am saving the bees time.
I just put the frames in the freezer for two days, then put them in the hive. Yeah, the bees will clean the crap out just fine.
I sometimes put a few drops of sodium hypoclorite bleach, or a little more in the syrup. Once I somehow managed to think it was 4 oz of bleach to a gallon of syrup, and the bees took it. Took all the color out of the syrup. The recipe I read actually said 4 ml in a gallon, and after I realized my mistake I diluted it with more syrup.
Me and the Hubble Telescope...
>I am in the process of getting my hives ready for spring and discovered that some of the frames are covered in wax moth webbing as well as wax moth larva. even with the nasty winter we had they are still alive.
I take it they are not outside in the cold. Freezing usually kills them. Especially freezing for very long or very hard. I always put them where they will freeze.
I just scrape it all down if the combs are not worth saving. If there are only a few webs I might freeze and leave the combs.