[Terri]

I just went to take out the apistan strips on a hive that was hit hard this summer by varroa, and when I was going through the combs I saw 3 worms jump out. One of the bees bit one worm, but it got loose. FAST little buggers, aren't they?

At any rate, I am going to requeen this hive.

Do you think requeening and squeezing the bees into one box would be enough, or should I also treat for wax moths?

The goldenrod flow is just starting, so if I put all of the brood into one box with a comb of honey and pollen, I think that they will have enough to eat. And, then I can freeze the rest of the combs.

While I HATE! to waste worker brood, I COULD freeze ALL of the frames because the current queen is not laying well anymore. It MIGHT be because of the Fall season but I doubt it, I think that she is old. I only GOT her last Fall, but the bees are restless and the laying pattern is poor.

 

[Joel]

A hive that is weak enough for prevelant wax moth infestation this time of year is in dire straights to get built up to survive the winter. With 1 or 2 full brood cycles, a poor queen and wax moths quick action is important. We winter successfully in upstate New York in 1 box. I would requeen ASAP, combine as you state and feed as soon as golden rod is done as you need to have a packed single to winter. Old or young, some queens just are inferior. You need a strong queen to lead a hive into winter.

 

[Terri]

A thought just occured to me. I BOUGHT her last Fall, but I bet she was HATCHED in the spring!

She was my best queen this spring, and at first I thought she just wasn't mite resistant. Thinking now, she is probably just plain old.

The goldenrod will probably run for 6 weeks at least, and there are still a lot of adult bees in the hive with the failing queen, so a new queen could probably raise enough brood to winter them over. 2 of my stronger hives look like they can collect more goldenrod honey than they need, so winter feed will not be a problem: I just need more young bees to winter over the hive.

And to get rid of the wax moths, of course.

 

[louis1st]

are you sure the "worms " you saw are wax moths?

 

[Terri]

>are you sure the "worms " you saw are wax moths?

YES.

>A hive that is weak enough for prevelant wax moth infestation this time of year is in dire straights to get built up to survive the winter. With 1 or 2 full brood cycles, a poor queen and wax moths quick action is important.

YEs.

That is why I am requeening ASAP.

The question is, will requeening be enough if I requeen AND crowd the bees to make it hard for the wax moth worms to hide, or do I need to treat for wax moths also?

 

[Joel]

That depends on the weather, how soon the queen is installed, the amount of stores, and the size of the cluster. Small clusters with good stores will winter fine if they have enough young bees in the cluster to survive the winter. With the waning honey flow and a quick requeen ( then next couple of days) you should have enough hatching brood to do OK. Be sure and reduce the entrance for wintering to avoid any added stress such as and provide for wind protection over the winter to minimize chilling. I would not treat the combs unless there is a moderate to heavy infestation with signs of webbing. Once reduced to 1 box, you should be able to eliminate any combs in the reduction that are infested. The bees will take care of the strays, especially with the oncoming cooler weather. Good Luck.

 

[Terri]

Thanks!

 

[Michael Bush]

I would get some certan. Spray all the combs, restrict the hive to the number of frames the bees can cover and requeen. They still probably won't make it.

 

[The anonymous buzzing bee]

I am only a newbee, but I would have thought that when you add up the price of a new queen, and the Certan, it would be almost as much as buying a nuc next season. I wouldn't have thought it was worth the effort keeping them alive, unless you are one of those people who won't give up on a hive until it's competely doomed.

Sorry if that sounded a bit heartless.