I tried to add a frame of brood and eggs 2 weeks ago.
I noticed this morning that bees were pulling dead bees out- I opened it up and it?s gone. Few running on the frames but tons of these worms.
So what am
I looking at?
https://youtu.be/sg0hItcxcko
Wax moth larvae?
Those are wax moth larvae. There's a silky substance on the frames that they make.
Small Hive Beetle Larva as the comb has the slimy look to it but I also see webbing so could also be wax moth larva also. There is a difference in the larva. I could not see it good enough to be able to distinguish.Beetle larvae never reach the size of mature wax moth larvae.
"Also, beetle larvae have three pairs of jointed, ?true? legs located behind the head. Wax moth larvae have many small, fleshy, uniform legs along the length of the body. And the bodies of beetle larvae have tough exteriors while those of wax moth larvae are soft and easily penetrated". - John Skinner, University of TennesseeBeetle,
Either way, you had better address is asap.
I agree with Ben Framed, I think it?s both. You?ve got the slime from the beetle larvae and the silk from the waxworms. The slightly yellower ones are the beetle larvae and the whiter ones are the waxworms. Maybe a result of too much space in the hive? All those frames had no bees on them, I noticed.
I see the webbing on top right of the frame from wax moth. However the crawling worms are small hive beetle larva.
As mentioned by Ben, the slime is a dead giveaway for small hive beetle larva.
Salty: here is the typical scenario for small hive beetle.
The honey bees confine the adult small hive beetles [shb]to a specific area in the hive we call this area a beetle jail. When a beekeeper inspects a hive, the beetles make a jail break and escape during the confusion of having the hive open which distracts the guarding bees. Once the beetles scatter during their jail break they quickly lay eggs. Approx 5 days after inspections the shb larva can be found.
If you think back to your previous inspection it was probably 5-7 days earlier. That is when the initial jail break occurred. The shb adult cannot be stung or killed by the bees as the beetle has a hard shell so confinement is the way the honeybees control the shb. Most of the time the beetle jail is on an outer frame such as frames: 1,2 or 9,10 on a ten frame.
You did nothing wrong Salty, the shb plagued us in the warmer southern areas of America.
I just had the same thing happen to me after I created 3 nucs. One nuc was attacked by the beetles but I managed to save this nuc. Usually the beetles affect or attack smaller or weak hives such as newly created nucs. Some years are worse than others.
Salty, those beetle larva are active and need to be killed or they will make it to the ground, burrow into the ground and return as adult beetles to attack more hives.
I bag and freeze to kill the worms.
So I?m guessing that y?all freeze so you can reuse the frames?
Quote from: Nock on May 19, 2019, 08:16:23 PM
So I?m guessing that y?all freeze so you can reuse the frames?
Yep, that?s what I do.
Give beetle and wax moths have been bad this year. Rinse and freeze frames for reuse. I received a call today from customer that bought a strong 10 frame box. Not sure who he is until I see him. He said he inspected 10 days ago and all looked great except a few beetles. Today he said bees were gone and hive beetle larva took over. His only hive so big loss. He didn't blame me. Hope this is not reoccur problem. I am done selling bees for this year. I need the remaining hives to restock. Perhaps I will set him up with a nuc.
Looks like there are too many drawn frames in that hive. Remove all that have the small hive beetle larvae in them and as mentioned, wash them out and freeze them.
Only leave as many frames as the bees can cover. Do this tomorrow. I have had an Nuc with plastic foundation that I scrapped the larvae office of one side and saved the brood on the other side.
Remove honey and pollen frames and freeze until the bees regain control and get their numbers back up.
Good luck.
Jim Altmiller
Quote from: sawdstmakr on May 20, 2019, 12:20:48 AM
Looks like there are too many drawn frames in that hive. Remove all that have the small hive beetle larvae in them and as mentioned, wash them out and freeze them.
Only leave as many frames as the bees can cover. Do this tomorrow. I have had an Nuc with plastic foundation that I scrapped the larvae office of one side and saved the brood on the other side.
Remove honey and pollen frames and freeze until the bees regain control and get their numbers back up.
Good luck.
Jim Altmiller
I had a similar problem Jim, just a couple days ago with a two frame mating nuc. When I say a two frame mating nuc, I mean two full frames. This is similar to the ones used by David and Jimmy at Barnyard Bees. The queen did not return from her mating flight and the devils attempted to do their thing! I saved over half of one frame, and 2/3 of the other. I also changed the bottom, two days in a row, because today I again found larva in the bottom of the new bottom, so to the freezer it went also. I could not, with the naked eye find any more larva or beetles either time. hopefully they are under control. Especially with the CD case method. I cut one of these in half with a multi function tool so it would fit. one half in the bottom and the other on the top. I also introduced a virgin queen in a roller cage, I ''hope'' to release her in a day or so, hoping I will not find anymore problems here with the shb. I am kind of experimenting here as I realize this is not the best way to handle this. Im stretching the limits as a learning process.
ed/LA
Perhaps I will set him up with a nuc.
That would be nice of you ed if you can spare it. Your buddy has probably learned the hard way about the little invaders.
Hopefully he will do his homework and learn to keep them under control. Paus, Jim, and others helped me tremendously last year when I lost a hive to the SHB. So far I am doing ok this year. But I have been watchful and concerned. I am killing several. Doing splits and queens etc. leaves our bees more vulnerable, just seems a little early to me, but what do I know, my first hive was only last spring.
You might have read my earlier post here concerning one of my mating nucs. I was wondering if it was me, or, are the SHB early this year? But since you stated,''Give beetle and wax moths have been bad this year.'' I am assuming it is not just my opinion. I just hope the things I have learned will be enough to keep them at bay! :grin:
Phillip
Ben,
All it takes is one unattended hive to bee taken over by SHBs and that area will have a massive influx of SHBs. The best way to correct this is with SBB and oil trays. They are a pain to clean every month but they kill everything that drops into them.
Jim Altmiller
Quote from: sawdstmakr on May 20, 2019, 11:41:52 AM
Ben,
All it takes is one unattended hive to bee taken over by SHBs and that area will have a massive influx of SHBs. The best way to correct this is with SBB and oil trays. They are a pain to clean every month but they kill everything that drops into them.
Jim Altmiller
That?s what I learned from you and Paus last year, The oil tray system. Works fantastic, however I did not build any for the two frame mating nucs. So guess what is on my to do list ha ha.😁
Quote from: van from Arkansas on May 19, 2019, 08:15:07 PM
Salty, those beetle larva are active and need to be killed or they will make it to the ground, burrow into the ground and return as adult beetles to attack more hives.
I bag and freeze to kill the worms.
If I bag and freeze , how do I use the comb? What other preparation would it require?
Thanks Van and others
https://youtu.be/RO3FyIS0oAs
This is to show where I left the frames- how this may be my other 2 robbing
I honestly don?t know.
What?s next to to with her?
Put them in the freezer for a couple of days to kill all eggs, larvae and beetles. You can leave empty drawn and honey frames in the freezer for long periods. Remove pollen frames after a couple of days. They will mold up with time in the freezer. Put them in front of a fan to dry them as they warm up. They sweat and this increases the mold problem.
When they warm up, they are ready to install in a hive. If they were slimed real bad, use a hose and fine mist to wash out the frames.
Jim Altmiller
Thanks Jim