> Do they actually eat the wax, or the cocoons and pollen. They are much more
>interested in comb that has had brood in it.
I'd go so far as to say they are only interested in comb that has brood cocoons
and pollen in it. :) no shortage of wax moths around here in a mild climate,
but I can happily store honey comb without it getting infested, as long as
there's no cocoons or pollen in it. They certainly aren't targetting the wax
for eating - it's just an incidental to getting to their real food source.
Nutritionally it's primarily the cocoons they are after, but I'd suggest in many
cases there's a fair bit of pollen saturation in the cocoons and vice versa,
particularly in dead-out hive where the bees haven't been there
to control temperature. If that saturation meant they were unable to access the
nutrition in wax-saturated cocoons, they wouldn't be nearly so successful at
cleaning up abandoned hives - to the moths' detriment and the bees'.
regards
Deanna Corbett
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