Wax moth worms in my hive...?

[yakin ag]

I'm new to beekeeping, started in April, so it came as quite a shock to me yesterday when I pulled the tray out on my screened bottom board to find a dozen or more wax moth worms (I think, they had thick webs) I didn't go into my hive, so I'm not sure if they're throughout, and I killed all the ones in the bottom, but does anyone have any ideas? Should I switch back to a traditional, solid bottom board or will my screened bottom board be OK? Thanks for any advice!

[Grid]

That happened to me as well, although only one larvae. Wax debris falls onto the bottom board, and the bees cannot get to it to clean it, so it is up to me to keep it clean. That time I hadn't visited my bees in 2 weeks. With the bottom board in, I should get there weekly to at least clean the board even if I don't open the hive up.

Grid.

[BaconStreetBees]

I would open up your hive and check to see what is happening as well as the general health of your hive. Generally, if you have a strong hive, the bees will clean out wax moth eggs and larvae before there is a problem. If you have a weak hive, the wax worms have a better chance.
If everything looks ok in the hive, then the bees are doing their job and are removing unwanted guests.
If the hive looks weak, then you will have to take measures to help it along.

[yakin ag]

Thank ya'll for the replies. Is the screened bottom board the way to go, or should I replace it with a traditional solid bottom board? I have both ready to go...

[BaconStreetBees]

Screened bottom boards have the advantage of ventilation and varroa control. Lots of posts on screened bottom boards(SBB).

[brooksbeefarm]

Do you have just a one hive body hive? If you give the bees more room than they can protect then the wax moths become a problem. I have sbb's on all my hives and once in a while i'll find wax moth larva in the pan under the sbb, i then check my hive to see if there's a problem if not then the bees are doing their job and throughing them out.:thumbsup:Good luck. Jack

[Curtis]

BaconStreetBees has given you very good advice. Do it.

[yakin ag]

I appreciate the help all. I searched SBB and found alot of good info, I removed the tray and slotted cover (that's where the moths/grubs were) and just have open screen above my big pavers the hive is sitting on. Also, when I inspected the hive, the queen is laying and they are producing honey, but they haven't expanded into the top brood box at all. The bottom one is almost full, there's 1/2 a frame they haven't built out yet, but the rest look full, and the box is full of bees. Also, b/c of the drought here in San Antonio, I have been filling a frame feeder in the top box.

[BaconStreetBees]

As mentioned in a previous post, maybe there was too much room for the bees to protect. It may be that the hive is just getting to the upper brood box and taking care of business. If there has been a drought, the feeding is important to expanding the brood and wax production. Keep a watchful eye on their progress.

[carbide]

There should be no reason to have the tray in place once the weather gets to be above say 50 degrees at night on a continous basis. I leave my trays out all year and only put them in when I want to do a varroa count on my hives.

I would never leave the trays in during the summer which is the prime wax moth time in my area.

[yakin ag]

Now I know :) Thanks everyone for the input