Wax moth

[220]

Inspected again today, all 3 of my hives are still building up and drawing comb.
Checked the oil tray that had a couple of SHB and what I thought may have been SHB larvae a week ago. No additional SHB in the oil but around 20 additional larvae, I don't think they are SHB larvae as they are around 15mm in length.
When I opened the hive I noticed a small propalised dome on top of one of the frames. Scrapped it off with my hive tool and there was a larvae under it burrowing into the timber, squashed it with the hive tool. Im guessing the larvae Im seeing in the oil tray are wax moth.
Haven't noticed any frame damage but haven't looked really close either, anything else they could be?

[divemaster1963]

you need to do a closer ispection. hive moths are a sign that the hive is weak and cannot defend the hive. if u have some cedar shavings ( dust) spread them across the top and inbetween the boxes. place shavings in bottom board and around hive on outside. this should help chase the moths away. if it is to far gone check for the qween if not there do a shake out to send the bees left to your other hives, then freeze the frames for 24 hours the put on strong hive to clean out.

john

[220]

I will inspect this hive again in 2 days and have a closer look for damage.
Less than ideal conditions today with it overcast and building up to a storm. I did pull 4 frames from the brood box, located the queen, good solid pattern of capped brood and didn't see any obvious damage. Would have liked to keep going but when the first big fat rain drop landed I closed it up as quickly as I could,

This hive I picked up a bit over 3 weeks ago, was 10 deep with a full super The owner was down sizing to less hives so we put it into a 8. 4 frames of eggs, larvae and brood a couple of mixed frames, a frame of honey and a empty frame, shook in a few frames of bees. It has been quite aggressive since, I have been making sure conditions have been ideal each week when I have inspected it. I have been as gentle and careful as I could but would still have a swarm of bees around my veil head butting within 30sec and a dozen or more stings in my gloves by the time I finished. Today they were quite calm, only had one decide to head butt and no stings. I am hoping it is a sign the wax moth larvae might have been what was upsetting them and they now have them under control.

[Andersonhoney]

Is it queenless?  That is did you split it or perhaps kill the queen?

[220]

Made sure we located and marked the queen when we put it into my 8 deep. Hadn't seen her until yesterday but the previous inspections I didn't worry about looking for her as I could see eggs and uncapped brood. Found her yesterday and she is the marked queen we put in.

[Lancej]

I live in the burbs of Melbourne, I have no hives at home, barely see a bee and wax moths are a real pain. You can't leave any brood comb around, or even wax blocks with a bit of rubbish on the bottom. I have bay leaves  in the bags of wax and keep everything sealed.

[Nico]

I have lost two weak hives to wax moth in the last twelve months, they make a mess of the hive, lesson learnt: Keep the hive as strong as possible, more thorough inspections.
Nico