I am not an expert on wax moth biology.  I do know that cold temperatures
kill larvae and eggs.  I and other beekeepers in my area have been having
problems with wax moth in honey supers than in the past two years.  First I
attributed it to earlier honey removal but now I think that is only part of
the problem.  My colonies are strong so it is not a problem with the hive
but obviously there is some egg laying going on because if I have supers
stored for a week or two I start seeing the worm.  I also find I have to
keep a closer eye on stored supers then in the past.  We have had two mild
winters back to back.  I wonder does this have more of an affect then I
first thought.  I don't know how you manage it in warmer climates. I don't
use QEs and that adds to the problem, but I never used them.  Maybe cold
winters are not that bad after all.  Does a cold winter kill most of them or
at least drive them South? Things are always changing and we have to change
with them.

Jack Methenius, a retired inspector from NJ would extract his honey in the
field and place the supers back on the hives above the inner cover.  He
would then remove them after the bees moved down on a cool day.  That
doesn't work as well when you remove and replace them earlier in the season.
After I extract I let the bees clean the supers before I store them.  If not
the bees are always in the shed trying to get at them anyway.   I do this
far enough away that I never had a robbing or angry bee problems.  I had
some supers that were still wet and we were going away for a few days.  I
didn't want to leave them out because I thought the neighbors daughter who
was coming in to take care of our animals might be afraid.  I took them down
to the colonies and placed them on the inner covers.  When I went down with
the second load the robbing was starting and the bees were furious.  I got
this all under control after I was chased back to get a veil.  With the warm
weather the bees did not abandon them. I went down on a cool morning (~45 F)
and still had bees in the supers.  Removing them was a lot of extra work and
they had stored honey in them again and one even had brood. At least there
was no wax moth damage. Possibly putting an empty super in between may have
avoided this.  It is just not worth the work as I have had no problems with
my current method all these years.  What worked for Jack a few years ago may
not be the ticket any longer.

Ron Bogansky
Kutztown, (eastern) PA, USA