Lost a hive today.

[swabby]

Last week I put a mouse guard on what was my best hive last spring .Today I went to check on my 4 hives only to notice 1 didn't have many bees flying around as the other 3 had. Decieded to open it up and take a look see. Geez, there were only a few bees and wax moth in the deep.
The only thing I knew to do was shake the frames into a diff. hive and burn the old foundation and frames. I was so disapointed in myself for letting this happen.
I was thinking of trying to get up to 5 hives next spring, now I have to take 1 step backwards.

[alpha6]

Shake it off. Live and learn. You can still move up to five hives. Start feeding in early spring to give your hives a boost and split when they get strong.

[stangardener]

i would resist any temptation to burn wooden ware over wax moth damage.

[odfrank]

You only need to burn equipment if it is infected with American Foul Brood. Wax moth equipment can be renovated.

[Hambone]

What did the hive look like a week ago? When was the last time you inspected this hive? Would wax moths kill a hive in a couple of weeks?

I am not trying to drill you here. Just woundering what took this hive down hill. And I don't know the answer to the wax moth question. That's why I ask.

[RayMarler]

It's always disheartening to lose a hive, my condolences to you. However, you should easily be able to get up to five hives this coming spring with the remaining 3 hives.

[dragonfly]

Would wax moths kill a hive in a couple of weeks?

.

In my quite limited experience, the wax moths don't in effect kill off a hive, but are opportunistic and enter when the hive is already in a weakened state. I had a very similar experience six years ago. Two of my four hives looked great one week, then two weeks later were all but dead. It was quite shocking to a novice.

[riverrat]

i would resist any temptation to burn wooden ware over wax moth damage.

Is it me or have I been seeing a lot of post where people are burning there equipmentbecause of wax moths. I have posted to several of them there is no need to. Show me where it is people are reading they need to burn equipment that has wax moth damage. And I will show you a book that needs to be burned

[Eaglerock]

two weeks later were all but dead. .

Are you saying they were almost dead, or dead?

[Ravenseye]

No riverrat...it's not you. I've noticed that as well. I suppose that "better to be safe than sorry" comes into play here but I'd rather they donate their old equipment to me...err...us!

[tecumseh]

riverrat writes:
have posted to several of them there is no need to. Show me where it is people are reading they need to burn equipment that has wax moth damage. And I will show you a book that needs to be burned

tecumseh:
well actually my old copy of abc-xyz states this directly. of course my copy is about 30+ years old and the author is trying to reply to a common statement that 'the wax moth killed my hive'. at that time (pre varroa) it was (as the author suggested) much more likely that the hives demise was foul brood and thus the burn the frames suggestion.

[riverrat]

riverrat writes:

tecumseh:
well actually my old copy of abc-xyz states this directly. of course my copy is about 30+ years old and the author is trying to reply to a common statement that 'the wax moth killed my hive'. at that time (pre varroa) it was (as the author suggested) much more likely that the hives demise was foul brood and thus the burn the frames suggestion.

The burning of wax moth damaged equipment was not directly related to the death of the hive. And as you said the book does not directly state to burn because of wax moths. You have to read the whole statement. while wax moths can occur because of foul brood the main cause is a weak or dying hive that cannot defend against them. Back 30 years ago foul brood was one of the worst things that could happen to a hive. Many old timers still believe the main loss of hives is foul brood There is a bee club here full of old timers there main discussion is foul brood and how to deal with it. My suggestion is newbees should be reading the most up to date post varroa books written or updated in the last few years by reputable authors. Once they have a grasp on the elementary principles of beekeeping. Then start reading the older books. I have several books written in the 1800 do I practice what is written in these books. Yes at times but I also studied the newer books first. When you combine the 2 you get a better understanding of why some things are done or not done today that was done years ago. If a newbee is reading a 30 year old xyz and it does state to burn if wax moths take over I say throw it on the burn pile and go buy the 41st edition. What worked then may not necessarily work in todays beekeeping world. That would be cheaper than burning equipment and buying new

[tecumseh]

I don't disagree with ya' one whit river rat.

acutually the author (of abc-xyz) goes to some length to develope a time line of decline that 'could' highly suggest foul brood. add to this some states REQUIRE that foul brood effected bees be burned and buried. from this it is not difficult to understand where this advice originated.

as to my 30 year old copy... I do think I will keep it. there are some real plums in there and as eric hoffer suggested some of us would consume an entire library of books to discover one or two good ideas.

[be lote]

was there any stores

[Tom G. Laury]

Don't burn them sell them to me