Wax Moths In Southern Alberta?

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Colino
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Wax Moths In Southern Alberta?

Unread post by Colino »

I had about a dozen culled honey frames left that I got from a commercial guy. I decided to clean them up and put them in boxes. Near the bottom of the stack I found what looks like wax moth larva and eggs. There was some webbing, but there doesn't seem to be any damage to the comb. I have at times seen what I thought were adult wax moths but this is the 1st instance I've seen actual larva. Maybe it's another species of wax moth, different from the ones in the U.S. that devastates comb. I put the frame in the freezer for a couple of days and it has killed the larva, I'm not sure if the eggs are still viable.
Narcissism is easy because it's me or I, Empathy is hard because it's they or them.-Colino
Allen Dick
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Re: Wax Moths In Southern Alberta?

Unread post by Allen Dick »

They are nothing to worry about. Outside storage in our cold winter takes care of them. Also exposing them to Air will put an end to them quickly in Alberta.
Allen Dick, RR#1 Swalwell, Alberta, Canada T0M 1Y0
51° 33'39.64"N 113°18'52.45"W
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Colino
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Re: Wax Moths In Southern Alberta?

Unread post by Colino »

Allen Dick wrote:They are nothing to worry about. Outside storage in our cold winter takes care of them. Also exposing them to Air will put an end to them quickly in Alberta.
Thanks Allen that's good to know because I talked my commercial buddy out of another 1250 frames of the same comb for 2 cases of Chubby Chucks Chicken Strips and a 30 lb case of French Fries. Works out to 8 cents a frame plus the elbow grease I'll use to clean them up. Out of the 1250 there were 30 with visible wax moths. He said he has had these piled up all summer in an open shed and that's why they have wax moths. Looks like I have my winter work cut out for me cleaning up these frames and building new boxes to put them in. I'm beginning to kick the idea around of a major expansion in the spring and doubling the size of my apiary to 30 hives.
Narcissism is easy because it's me or I, Empathy is hard because it's they or them.-Colino
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Colino
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Re: Wax Moths In Southern Alberta?

Unread post by Colino »

Oops! In my excitement and fatigue last night I was too exuberant and miscounted the amount of frames of comb. In reality I only have 650 combs not 1250 as I posted earlier. I put 2 frames per layer and counted the layers by two's. Then not thinking clearly I went 50 times 4 instead of 2. So the cost per frame works out to around 15 cents each. Sorry for my mistake I was not trying to deceive anyone.
Narcissism is easy because it's me or I, Empathy is hard because it's they or them.-Colino
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