Hive Devastated by Wax Moth (Gilbert,AZ)
Sad day at Luckey Bee Farms, we opened this hive and found that wax moths had destroyed the wax and hive completely. See if you can find the wax moth larva in the box. Yuck
Wax moths make their nests in the comb. The larvae chew the beeswax and eat cocoons, debris, honey and pollen. Most of the bees have left the hive. Here you can see all the wax moth cocoons at the bottom and their poop.
You can see the paths that the larvae took to get thru the comb.
A close up of the cocoons and the damage from the larvae.The larvae can move pretty quick, there were two moving across the comb.
Sadly this hive was unable to be saved. We took it out of the hive box, some of the bees were foraging the honey. Since the farm animals like the larvae we took the infested comb out to the pasture. Everyone was very curious. Had a sweet little drone on my bee suit.Thanksgiving is coming!