Uh Ohhh... Some Serious Problems... Need your HELP!!

[TapStoneBees]

Hello there everyone,
So this is my Second Season of keeping the bees, and what a lesson it has been.  Went out to the yard to do a routine check this past Sunday, and what a Mess!!

No, didn't get stung, but was stumped and stupified to find that one hive isn't doing so well.  I think
that the culprit may be wax moths, though I don't know what they look like.  Catepilllar like worms were in the hive, with lots of webby goo. Polllen was all trapped in this gooey mess, and whats more, the bees didn't seem to draw out much comb, no less honey.  I did notice alot of cells have pollen in them, though when I went into the brood chamber to find the queen, I couldn't!! 

However what I did find were lots of brood cells capped, cells that had drone comb in them, and cells that had more than one egg inside.  THAT to me says I HAVE A PROBLEM!!! 

Now, I ask all of you, what should I do?  I ordered some new hives, and was considering, ordering some new queens as well.   Should I move the bees from the current hive to the new one once I get it, and If so, what is the best way to do that????  I have read the books, though nothing beats the real life experience that the all of you have.   Your answers to this dilemma would be greatly appreciated.  We have a flow with the goldenrod and asters starting in a couple of weeks, and wanted to give the girls some time to store up for the rest of the winter. 

Looking forward to the feedback.

I hoped to include some pics of the problem.

JT
 

[Robo]

wax moth are usually a secondary problem when a hive is weak.   Sounds to me like you lost your queen and now have a laying worker.  If the hive has dwindled down to the point of wax moth destruction,  you probably have very few worker bees left (mostly drones) and it might be best to dispose of the colony (not necessarily the equipment).   Drones are a burden on the colony, so combining with another is probably more harm then good.   Even if you could rid it of the laying worker,  chances are there are not enough bees to overcome the burden of all the drones.

[Moonshae]

You can clean out the webbing and larvae from the ones you have, clean the frames, and put in new foundation. You don't need to discard your current equipment. If you have laying workers, you need to deal with that before they'll take the new queens.

If the population is low inside the hives, you may want to consider combining hives and ordering a new queen for each (after dealing with the laying workers).

[pdmattox]

I have to agree with rob. It sounds like they have gone to far in the wrong direction. Do you have other hives? If so you may still have time to build up a nuc for winter.

[JP]

There are few times when you have to throw in the towel on a hive, and I hate to say it Jt, but it sounds like this is that time. The hive sounds like it is past the point of no return. Like Rob said this hive had problems before you knew it had problems. Sorry for your loss.