Glen Glater wrote:
>I have a living (albeit weak, with apparently no queen) hive that is
>infested with waxmoth larvae and pupae at all developmental stages.
>What can I do to kill of these moth beasts without killing the bees in
>the hive?  I'm guessing that the hive is too weak to overwinter anyway,
>but I'd rather not hasten their demise.

>Can I put para-based moth things (the pink ones from supermarkets) into
>the hive to selectively kill the moths without killing the bees?  Or is
>there another alternative?

This is a tough problem due to the time of year.  Normally, there are a few
alternatives you could try, but placing Para in an active hive isn't one of
them.

One alternative would be to take one of your strong hives, and combine the
two.  Put the weak hive's supers, once you have insured there is no queen,
underneath the strong hive's supers (at the location of the strong hive),
and separated with a sheet of newspaper with several slits cut in the paper
to hasten joining of the two colonies.  The strong hive's bees would
probably be too busy battling the wax moth invaders and merge with the weak
hive's bees with few problems.  You could place an empty super in the old
(weak) hive's location to catch the remainder of the field force, and
transfer them back to that hive for a few days or so until they have
re-oriented themselves as to the new location.  Normally, when you combine
hives using the "newspaper method", you place the weak hive's supers on top
of the strong hive's supers, and separated by newspaper.  However, as wax
moths usually prefer to locate themselves (pupa and adults), and their eggs
in "out-of-the-way" areas of a hive, placing the weak hive's supers on top
may not be the best area for them to help the bees eradicate the wax moth
population.  The last thing you would want to do is give the wax moths an
upper hand in your strong colony!

A second alternative would be to divide up the frames of brood and food
stores amongst the other strong colonies in your apiary.  This would
eliminate the weak hive (since there is no queen anyway), and spread out the
infestation.  This would make it easier for each hive to control the wax
moth problem, but then again, you're spreading a problem that just might
take hold in the new hive if it's not strong enough to control the problem.
Without knowing the strength of your other hives, and the extent of the wax
moth infestation, I would hesitate to recommend this option without further
knowledge of the situation.

A third alternative is to switch places between the weak hive and a much
stronger one and re-queen the weak colony.  The strong hive's field force
would now return to the weak hive, and vice versa.  This would not have as
much of an impact as #1 above, but the added strength in numbers might be
enough to bring the moths in control.  The field force of the strong hive
would be depleted.  As such, instead of one strong hive and one weak going
into winter, you may be left with two "so-so" colonies that may not make it
through winter.

A fourth alternative, if you have enough hives, is to shake a few frames of
house bees from several hives into the weak hive, and requeen.  Being house
bees, fighting should be minimal.  The field bees would return to their own
hive, and the added house bees would help eradicate the wax moths.  This
would minimalize the reduction in strength among several colonies, versus
the alternative above, but not knowing how many colonies you have...

A fifth alternative would be to remove the frames of brood from the weak
hive, brush off the bees, and add them to a stronger hive, taking frames of
brood from the (or another) strong hive, doing the same thing, and adding
them to the weak hive.  This "switching" of brood frames, as most wax moth
larva and eggs are usually located in that area of the hive, would place
them in a hive better able to control the infestation.  I would also suggest
you change out and use "clean" supers, bottom boards and inner covers on the
weak hive, and go through the remaining honey supers in search of larva,
pupal cases, etc. for eradication.  Requeen, and maybe even add some house
bees as described above to give the population of this hive an immediate
boost.

The added strength to the weak hive would put an end to the moth problem,
but is this something you would want to do right now at the mercy of your
other stronger hive(s) (since you didn't indicate where you're located)?
How soon does your cool fall weather hit?  The reason I mention this is that
in many areas, at this time of year, it can be crucial for the bees to
strengthen their stores for winter.  As the bees would be busy fighting
moths and moth larva versus gathering the last bit of nectar and pollen, you
would do well to feed them sugar syrup.  The third, fourth and fifth
alternatives both would require re-queening (if you're able to procure one).

Also, as you transfer frames and supers, be sure and pick or brush off any
moths or larva you see crawling around into a bucket (and pick/scrape off
those pupal cases, too).  That will be just that many less moths and larva
the bees have to deal with, and you can feed them to the birds, go fishing,
etc.

Hope this helps,
--David Scribner <[log in to unmask]> - Ballwin, MO, USA
  Niche on the Net! <http://www.bigfoot.com/~dscribner>