Wax Moths! Aaaargh Nope, SHB

[Waverlybees]

Well, I went to retrieve honey supers off my oldest hive and was shocked and sickened by what I found  :'(





I checked this hive about ten days ago and saw no obvious issues. Did not see the queen, but saw eggs. I added a fourth medium honey super at that time because the other three were full. I did not have time to deal with the honey so I left it thinking I would get back to it today. That appears to be a mistake. Is there anything I can do with the frames of honey that do not appear to be damaged. Most are 70 to 80% capped, some less. Can I add them to my other hives or leave it out so they can get to it?  Please help.

Thanks, Dan

[Riverrat]

Slime on there makes it look more like SHB than wax moths

[Woody Roberts]

Looks like SHB to me. A few years back I did the same thing. Had about 100 lbs of honey on a weak but growing hive. The slime ran down and drowned all the brood. Robbers finished the hive off.

In my opinion frames that haven't been damaged are still good. If eggs have been layed but not hatched they will slime later. Freezing overnight will kill the eggs.

While bees will clean up wax moth damage that's not too bad they seem reluctant to work frames that have been slimed by SHB.

In desperation I bought one of green beehives IPK beetle trap bottoms. It worked so well I have them on all my hives now.
I've left full deeps of honey guarded by a double handful of bees with no problems as long as the trap is not gunked up and the beetles can drown in the oil

[Waverlybees]

Now that I look a little closer, I think you are right about the SHBs. The three honey supers do not appear to be in too bad of a shape. If I leave them out in the open, will the bees in the other hive gather it?  I do not have enough freezer space to freeze all 30 frames at once.

The SHB do not lay eggs in honey do they?  Can I take the honey frames that do not appear to have been slimed and put them on another hive? Or is that just taking a chance on spreading the problem to more hives?

Dan

[Slowmodem]

In desperation I bought one of green beehives IPK beetle trap bottoms. It worked so well I have them on all my hives now.

I have the screen/oil tray bottom on all of my hives now.  I figure it couldn't hurt.  So far things are ok, with mites and beetles in the tray instead of in the comb. 

[Riverrat]

I would extract the honey on the frames that are not slimmed and consume the honey. You could extract the frames of slimmed and feed them back to the bees. I personally wouldn't put the frames in another hive for fear of introducing hive beetles into that hive unless you freeze them first. One or 2 frames added to a strong hive you might be alright but IMHO the risk far out weighs the benefits.  If you haven't done so your best defense on the SHB is get the hive in full sunlight all day.   Fatbeeman has a good video on YouTube explaining how he is using campaign signs, Crisco, and boric acid to keep the hive SHB out of the hive. I have heard good things about. 

[tbonekel]

Mine are in full sun all day. See very few shb. Use to have them in shade. Mistake. Overrun by shb.

[Waverlybees]

Once extracted, how would one feed back to the bees?  Same as sugar water?  Does it need to be diluted?

Thanks for all the help.

Dan

[Perry]

Once extracted, how would one feed back to the bees?  Same as sugar water?  Does it need to be diluted?

Thanks for all the help.

Dan

Add 10% water and feed like you would sugar syrup.

[kebee]

 Waverlybees, shb are bad around our area, I almost lost a hive because of them, you need to get some ipk bottoms from greenbeehives.com I have got 4 of them and going to order another one this winter. He is slow getting them out to you, had to wait a month and a half both times I order so order all you need the first time, you will be glad you did. They are 27.00 each assembly and painted, He has kits also.

Ken

[Waverlybees]

Thanks for the info on the bottoms Ken. I'll see about getting them on all my hives.

[Woody Roberts]

The shipping charges eat me up. I buy them five at a time and my last ones cost me 36.00 at my door.

You better not need it when you order it as he said. Mid summer or fall might not be so bad but in the spring I allow at least two months.

I'm down to four, I better make another order.

I've never known anyone who has these say they don't work.

[Zulu]

Once extracted, how would one feed back to the bees?  Same as sugar water?  Does it need to be diluted?

Thanks for all the help.

Dan

Add 10% water and feed like you would sugar syrup.

Careful as it will ferment at any temps above 55 once you add water.....