No moths, now moths...

[Beeball Coach]

On a nice warm day back in March, we checked our hive and discovered that our first and only colony didn't make it through this past winter. It appears as though there were some trauma. Bees were almost frozen in time, half in and half out of cells, others still balled in the center frames. It was confounding to me because there were no moths or mites that I could see, just some foundation and comb erosion. I chalked it off to a late freeze or something.

We are pretty busy so we decided to pass on another package until next year. Well, we are extremely happy that a swarm has taken over the hive and doesn't care how busy we are!! What a blessing, how cool? But wait...

Here's the problem...our initial inspection of the frames indicate lots of capped honey in one half of the top chamber and plenty of eggs and
capped and/or hatching in the lower super. However, other (half) of the frames were rife with webbing and wax moth larvea, foundation and comb were chewed to shreads. I removed 7 of the 20 frames and packed the rest tight to avoid burr comb but I need advice on how to deal with the moths.
Can I treat the hive or is it too far gone and with what? Should I burn the 'infected' frames or can I salvage them and just add new foundation?
Thanks fro your help.
Ed.

[oregonsparkie]

I would put the frames in the freezer over night then put it back into the hive and add bees. I think they will clean up and repair and damaged foundation

[Almond Grower]

From your description it sounds to me like your first hive starved to death.

A strong hive will keep the wax worms out. My advice to you is to keep this new hive as healthy as you can (well nourished and mite free). Wax worms can only thrive in weak or dead hives.

[tecumseh]

Almond Grower adds:
From your description it sounds to me like your first hive starved to death.

tecumseh adds: My impression also. As to the frames this depends on the extent of moth damage: if wax moth damage is severe replace wax with new foundation: if wax moth damage is minor do as mention above.

[Beeball Coach]

I will try to find some foundation nearby and repair the frames.
Thanks Guys.

[ScadsOBees]

Also, if there are still wax moth larvae present you may want to make sure that they have manageable hive space...if they have less space they can control the moths better until which time the hive has the strength to control a larger area.

[Robert Brenchley]

If you can get hold of some certan (biological wax moth control) sprayt it over the frames. It really works.