Wax moth.

[Perry]

I don't normally like to do this, but I have been dealing with an outbreak of wax moth this year like no other. I guess because I kept the honey house so warm till I was done extracting, the little buggers got a foot hold and I want to knock them out before it gets any worse. We haven't had cold enough nights to stop them, and I was getting tired of scraping off comb.
I set all my honey supers out side yesterday and today, both here at the honey house and also another larger yard for the bees to clean up and hopefully rid them of most of the wax moth. (Can't load pic unfortunately). Tomorrow it is supposed to go up to 20C (68F) and then temps drop.
It gave me the opportunity to completely clean all the floors in the honey house with soap and a hot mopping, I hardly recognize the place.

[neillsayers]

Perry,

You can get xentari from amazon. Also Zulu may have it available. I'm going to order next week. It may not be a quick enough fix for you. Para-moth crystals are supposed to work but I don't know about using it on honey supers. A good freeze would really help you about now.

As I understand it, the greater wax moth can do damage to wood work.

[Mikey N.C.]

I know you're working with alot of boxes, out side with good air flow , tilted boxes.
Have talked to a few old beeks they say air flow an sunshine ,no para-moth or bt?

[G3farms]

Perry, a little late now but think about putting a bug zapper in your honey house and bee sure all of the lights are off when you leave. They work pretty good on the moths that are inside of your honey house.

[Jen]

CBT sends me Bt when I need it.

[Wandering Man]

I've just put Walmart Moth Crystals on plates in the containers where I have wax frames. 

A beek I know on FaceBook recommended setting the boxes out checkerboard style to make sure plenty of light gets in to keep the moths away:




Another beek countered with using a criss-cross method.  He suggested you put a queen excluder on the bottom box, stack four straight up, and then criss cross every other box.  The exculder is supposed to keep mice and other critters out.  Both methods are designed to shine a little light on the wax until the freeze comes.



It never freezes here, so I've put all of my stuff in the freezer for a couple of days, and then added the moth crystals.

$4.36 for a one pound can at Wal Mart: 
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Enoz-Moth-Crystals-16-oz/16326915

[Lburou]

...Para-moth crystals are supposed to work...

Para moth crystals will work Perry, Just make SURE the crystals you buy DO NOT contain Naphthalene (naphthalene will kill the bees).  The chemical you want in the crystals is P-Dichlorobenzene...but I'd guess you already knew that. 

[Perry]

PDB moth crystals are no longer allowed for use in beehives here in Canada.

[Lburou]

Well then, I have some old Bt a. you can have...   

[apisbees]

A 1" long larva white in color or a pink 1/2" long larva?

[Jen]

I have some Bt I can send you too Perry! Not A Problem!

Eh hem, unless of course your country has sniffing dogs at the border?

[neillsayers]

A 1" long larva white in color or a pink 1/2" long larva?

Apis,
Is that the difference between greater and lesser wax moth?

[Barbarian]

There is quite a bit of info about wax moth on the Dave Cushman website.

www.dave-cushman.net

I wonder if the thread should be moved to the Pests and Diseases section.

[Perry]

Finally able to post pics again. It rained a bit last night, not sure if that will hurt anything.

[rober]

having boxes in the light deters the moths but if they already laid eggs in those boxes it's too late for that. get some xentari ( BT ) & treat those frames. the BT kills wax moth larva. then cross stack the boxes so the comb dries or the comb will mold. with that many boxes you might need 2 bags of xentari. once you mix up a batch it needs to be used within 2 days as it does not keep. also don't buy more than you need as it has a short shelf life. I talked to a tech at valent & he told me dipel was a slightly different formula that targeted some other kind of worms but would still work on wax moths. I've used dipel & xentari & they both worked. I've used spray bottles but found that when I have a lot of frames to treat it's easier to turns frames on their side & use a gardening type sprinkler can. with a lot of frames my hands start to cramp when using a spray bottle.
https://hidhut.com/xentari-bt.html
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0149J0GZG/ref=psdc_3737951_t1_B004CZ1MOM
https://www.amazon.com/Insecticide-Organic-Dipel-DF-Ounce/dp/B004OKCCHQ/ref=pd_sim_86_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B004OKCCHQ&pd_rd_r=4P3A0N1H5YACQH7AV0PE&pd_rd_w=5p5pR&pd_rd_wg=SmYI1&psc=1&refRID=4P3A0N1H5YACQH7AV0PE
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dlawngarden&field-keywords=xentari

[Jen]

Hi Rober, I use Xentari Bt as well, but it's not legal in Canada yet. Such a bummer.

[rober]

jen
last I heard  does Canada allows BT. in fact it's labeled for use in Canada. it's not legal in the U.S. some but a few states allow it. it was approved at one time in the U.S. but the approval expired & the makers decided it cost more to go thru the approval process than they can make selling it so they did not bother getting approved again.

[apisbees]

A 1" long larva white in color or a pink 1/2" long larva?

Apis,
Is that the difference between greater and lesser wax moth?

We have a moth that lays in comb, it is not the wax moth but is a codling moth that infect apple and pear trees. They tunnel a bit through the comb and leave a bit of a web behind but nothing the bees can't fix in a day or two. Put a sheet of news paper between each super when stacking them and the news paper will keep them under control. In Nova Scotia with all the orchards around I would think there are more codling moths around than actual true wax moths.
Every once in a while we will get a outbreak of wax moths in the Okanagan but most times they are just miss diagnosed coding moths.

[neillsayers]

Thanks Apis,

I'll have to look up codling moth and see if they are here. Many years ago, before other states outcompeted them, NW Arkansas was home to many apple orchards. There are still a lot of feral trees in the National Forest at old homestead sites.