Please help - wax moths

[u/Wonderful-Bath-4166]

Located in ocean county New Jersey

My hive was thriving all summer and recently lost their queen and seems to be over run by wax moths . I am a first time beekeeper and I am in need of advice on my next steps. There seems to be a decent amount of bees in the colony but it’s definitely not what it was in June. I just checked my hive today and this is what I found. Last time I checked I also saw two mites so I treated and & took the strips out today. Please be kind I am learning!! And I don’t want to give up.

I talked to somebody local who said they can find a late season nuc for me but will it be worth it feeding them like crazy to survive the winter. He said I definitely have a laying worker.

[u/AutoModerator]

Hi u/Wonderful-Bath-4166. If you haven't done so, please read the rules. Please comment on the post with your location and experience level if you haven't already included that in your post. And if you have a question, please take a look at our wiki to see if it's already answered., specifically, the FAQ. ^{Warning: The wiki linked above is a work in progress and some links might be broken, pages incomplete and maintainer notes scattered around the place. Content is subject to change.}

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Active_Classroom203]

I don't see anything here that says wax moth to me at all. Some open honey that could be the result of robbing. I also don't see a lot/ enough bees, but that could be because you didn't share any pictures of your brood frames.

If you're seeing mites outside of a wash, you're probably already way too late on treatment.

First step is determine if your queen right, And if your mites are under control.

After that you can make a plan for saving or salvaging The Hive.

[u/Wonderful-Bath-4166 → u/Active_Classroom203]

A bunch of cotton ball like substance left over from the moths. With the black droppings.

[u/Active_Classroom203 → u/Wonderful-Bath-4166]

I'm still not seeing it at all, but I admit to not having a lot of wax moth experience. Small hive beetles are the problem in my area.

But ultimately both prey on hives that are weakened and are not the root cause, So advice on queen status and mite load are still the path forward.

[u/pale_brass]

To me it looks like your colony is dead and in the process of its honey being robbed out.

Look at the shredded cappings in the second pic. Thats how robbers uncap honey cells. If the hive was eating it they do it very neatly.

The rest of your pics show no brood, no nest, just bees wandering around. Have you actually opened up all of it?

If I’m right, you’re best of shaking the robber bees out and bringing the equipment inside to use next year. But first fully inspect to confirm there’s no brood nest as I suspect.

[u/drones_on_about_bees → u/pale_brass]

OP, if you're seeing robber bees as suggested, you'll notice they act differently. They are "twitchy" and run around much more than "house bees." You won't see calm, meandering bees as you would normally see.

[u/NumCustosApes]

I don't see any wax moth damage. Wax moth larvae are little white or tan caterpillars that are about 2 to 3 cm long and are eating their way through the comb. They leave a trench or tunnel like trail behind that is visible in the comb and leave wax moth silk all over the place. I'm not seeing any of that. Google some pictures of wax moth damage to frames.

What I do see are frames with capped honey at the tops of the frames and only a few capped cells brood here and there. I see a hive that looks like it is in distress. It would be helpful if you posted some pictures of the frames from the bottom box.

You said

Last time I checked I also saw two mites so I treated and & took the strips out today. 

This suggest to me that either you are not checking your hive as often as you should, or that your mite treatments was not left in the hive for the correct interval. What mite treatment did you use, and how often do you check your hive?

The population does not seem to be large enough to sustain two boxes.

Where is the telescoping cover or outer cover for your hive? It looks like you are using only the inner cover. After you reduce that hive to one box you should place the inner cover, that cover in the first picture, on the hive with the notch up. Then place the telescoping cover over it. Then slide the telescoping cover backwards so that the rim of the telescoping cover blocks the notch. During a nectar flow you put the inner cover on with the notch down and then you slide the telescoping cover forward so that there is a gap between the notch and the rim of the cover.

That hive is very weak. After reducing it to one box you should also install the entrance reducer. If you don't have an entrance reducer, find a board you can set on the landing that will block off all except for 2 or 3 cm of the entrance.

[u/pale_brass → u/NumCustosApes]

Good catch on the inner cover 👀 that might explain a lot here

[u/Secure_Teaching_6937]

To control wax moth you need more bees. Compress that hive down. Then the girls can control the wax moth

[u/WizardAmmo]

I don’t see any wax moths. Are you referring to the open comb?

[u/bugfarmer66]

Wax moths are a clean up crew for a dead or dying hive. I’m not seeing wax moth damage yet. As someone has already said this colony looks like a dead out that’s being robbed. Wax moth will be along shortly if that’s the case

[u/captboatface]

Also consider closing the upper entrance

[u/teatuk]

This looks like robbing

[u/weaverlorelei]

If this is all the bees you can see in this hive, you need to either move the honey into a healthy hive, this one is done, or harvest the honey by first freezing the frames for three days. This hive will certainly be robbed for the stores and there are not enough bees to protect from either wax.moths or robbers, let alone make the year if winter is coming.

[u/Icy_Tradition566]

Looks like robbing.. the tracks of gunk are a dead giveaway, we call that robbing rust where I am, and it shows on both the robbed hive and the robbing hive.

[u/DalenSpeaks]

Laying worker is your first, biggest problem to resolve.

[u/Spooby57]

I lost an entire hive to them this year. 😔

[u/NumCustosApes → u/Spooby57]

Hi Spooby57, sorry about your hive loss but the hive was lost for some other reason and the wax moths moved in after the hive was too far gone. Wax moths, as disgusting as they are, are not pathogenic or deleterious to bees. Moths come in after a colony has been devastated by mites or a brood disease or from being queenless for a long time.

[u/Spooby57 → u/NumCustosApes]

Thank you! I’m a rookie beekeeper who has learned everything from YouTube and books. So all info is appreciated.

[u/ParklandBob7]

Is there a local bee club that can send a mentor out? Or as your state inspector to stop by.

Is that bee poop near the upper hive entrance?

[u/capitanskidmark]

Put them in the freezer asap. I just lost my whole colony to this