Dear Walt:
Happy holidays and my "condolence" on the loss of your bees. I am not being
funny, I really feel sorry for those who are losing their bees.
Sounds to me like you have bee mites even though you treated your
colonies. What you describe is a typical scenario of bee mites infestation.
Why did they die? There could be a combination of factors involved. It is
obvious that the treatment was not effective for that particular colony.
Please make a careful evaluation of your remaining colonies, including
assistance from someone knowledgeable about bee mites and reassess your
treatment program.
Wax-moth grubs will not survive freezing. You can utilize your comb next
year without fear of these years' grubs after freezing the combs.
CAUTION: The name of the product to use for storage of combs is:
MOTH ICE CRYSTALS (paradichlorobenzene). This product is
manufactured by the same company that makes moth balls (not to be used for comb
storage!) and is usually found side by side with moth balls at the stores that
sell it.
Best regards.
Dr. Rodriguez
Virginia Beach, VA