Bruce Hamilton wrote:
I was away
> for about 5 weeks and when I can back my only active hives were my
> original ones. When I examined the empthy hives I notices wax moth
> larve and some type of spider web material. My other 3 hives are quite well.
> Question: Are newly established swarms more suseptable to the wax
> moth?
Hi Bruce,
A normal colony will not be overcome by waxmoth, the bees will guard
against them. When a colony fails for any reason the moths quickly move
in. I have occasionaly seen moth damage in a hive while there are still
bees but so few bees that they cannot defend the colony. These colonies
are on the way out anyway, failing from an abnormal condition.