Hey Bee-L'ers,
 
Background information:
Location:  97 degrees west latitiude, 32 degrees north longitude.  ( I think
this is close but I am not really good at this stuff)  South west Oklahoma USA.
 
Temperature this last week:  lows in the 20's F and highs in the 60's F.
We have had a cold snap this year.  In early december lows in 0-10 degree F
range and highs for a week that did not get above 40 F.
 
Problem:  I had 3 hives at a distant yard that I had not been out to visit
since October 15, 1996.  I went out to winterize the hives and remove queen
excluders, supers and install some entrance reducers.  I know I was late and
should have done this earlier so please no flames on this point.  In one of
the hives all of the bees were above the queen excluder, even the queen!!!!
Below the excluder was pulled wax and nothing else but trash (dead bees and
some wax and dead leaves).  No honey, no brood, no wax moths just about 6 of
these large yellow wasps.  As I inspected the other 2 hives I also found
wasp carcus on the queen excluders.  All of the live wasps were in the empty
brood box and slow moving and pretty much winterized for hybernation so
easily collected for insect collections (waste not want not).
 
Question:  Why hadn't wax moths moved in?  Had the wasps been effective in
protecting the equipment from moths?  When I was at the hives in October, I
had a dead hive with extensive moth damage (pesticides killed the hive), and
the other 3 hives were still busy collecting nectar from cotton blooms.  The
hives were strong, 6 frames of brood each in a deep brood chamber in October.
 
Comments?????
 
 
Richard Barnes
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