Help! Wax Moths? Moldy Comb?? w/photos
It was really warm today, so I peeked to make sure everything was going well.
http://i647.photobucket.com/albums/u...2919Medium.jpghttp://i647.photobucket.com/albums/u...2920Medium.jpg
http://i647.photobucket.com/albums/u...h_IMG_2922.jpghttp://i647.photobucket.com/albums/u...h_IMG_2931.jpg
Maybe I Screwed up...
Last month, as the weather started to get cooler I did a 'last' inspection, and moved some comb to accommodate my feeder. There were empty combs upfront, so took them out (maybe 3 or 4 at most) and put in the feeder.
The plan being, to put all the empty combs to the back, so it would be less intrusive to take them out and put in a follower.
The combs that I pushed up against the wall were solid pollen. They are now both like the photos.
The other combs are fine. There is a small patch of moldy pollen in one of the ones I moved from the front. But the one right behind these is fine.
I tapped them on the table when i was taking photos and a few wax moth larvae (?) fell out.
Is this the culprit? Did i Doom them? Do I need to provide more ventilation for the winter?
What should I do for the hive going into winter?
There are 6-8 completely empty combs. (Of 30) I took these two out and will either make a shorty follower (to avoid moving all the other bars) or I can replace them with comb I have in the freezer...
My feeder is in the back (opposite end from these combs) and takes 3 combs of space (hence the 2 in the freezer) the plan was to replace the feeder with a follower when it gets too cold for syrup.
:(
Re: Help! Wax Moths? Moldy Comb?? w/photos
That looks like small hive beetle (SHB) to me.
Re: Help! Wax Moths? Moldy Comb?? w/photos
Including the damage to the comb? It is dry and powdery rather than slimy.
Looking at other photos it does look like SHB. Thank you, I will be adding a trap for them tomorrow.
Re: Help! Wax Moths? Moldy Comb?? w/photos
It looks like whatever was in there didn't make it or was just a light infestation.
Re: Help! Wax Moths? Moldy Comb?? w/photos
I removed ALL empty combs and only left the full ones, making sure they have at least 10 comb of stores. Follower board helps in my northern climate to reduce the hive space, keeps them warmer.
Re: Help! Wax Moths? Moldy Comb?? w/photos
Freeze overnight and put back in the hive.