No queen, no brood, plenty wax moths

[tbeazlie]

I harvested my honey a few weeks ago and one hive of two had no brood, and I could not find the queen so I put some comb with eggs from the good hive into the bad hive. I checked it today and still no queen or brood but now full of wax moths. I believe the hive is lost, but what is the best thing to do now? Just leave it alone and let nature take its course and clean up the mess in the spring? Or do I kill the bees and moth larvae with something and deal with it now?

[Michael Bush]

Shake the bees out in front of a queenright hive. Freeze the combs in a garbage bag if they will fit in your freezer. If not, buy some Bt (see Sundance's ad or go to beeworks) and spray the combs to kill the wax worms.