Tour of a Dead Nuc with Dr. David Peck

What happens when you ignore wax moths? Join our Director of Research and Education, Dr. David Peck, on a tour of moth damaged combs. This nuc went queenless and died over the summer, and we didn't clean things up. We sacrificed these frames to show you the destruction these nasty larvae cause when there are no bees to guard your comb. Wax moths won't kill your colony, but a dead or weak colony can lose control of their wax to nature's "clean-up crew". Remember to clean up dead colonies, and freeze or treat bee-free combs in storage to keep wax moths from making a mess of things.
Check out this article for more tips on fighting wax moths: www.betterbee....
See our video on Controlling Wax Moths: • Controlling Wax Moths ...

[@rickwarner516]

Thanks

[@intheshell35ify]

My chickens can't get enough wax moth frame scrappings. Bet the larvae would make outstanding fish bait.

[@DrDTPeck-Betterbee]

My fish pond is just out of sight in this video. If I hadn't been so busy that week, I definitely would have held onto a few of those larvae!

[@rickwarner516]

And the wood damage is over the top 😕😕😕😕😕

[@framcesmoore]

Ha David good video u did a good job, but sorry to say u did not teach me a thing, I have been there more then I would like to say. but the video was good. I wish u would do videos inspecting your hives, I like to see how your brood looks and compare it to mine, U have a God Blessed week. Thanks again for the video.

[@betterbee1979]

Thank you! We do have some videos on brood and inspecting hives: ua-cam.com/video/AwKDNIEMq2M/v-deo.htmlsi=kqU0VUciUvyK65I3 and ua-cam.com/video/c1RK9AYYZMk/v-deo.html

[@lambbrookfarm4528]

Ouuuuh, thanks Dave

[@rusticlifefarm6264]

I'm curious, after chickens eat the pupae will you (how will you) clean those up to use again. I think this would be a good video to create ! @Betterbee

[@DrDTPeck-Betterbee]

Once the chickens were done with it I scraped the remaining silk off of the nuc box and the inner and outer cover. I could have scraped the silk and comb off the frames with plastic foundation, painted melted wax back over the foundation, and then put them into a strong colony next spring to get them to build more comb. I'll confess that in this case, the frames were such a mess that I just put them whole into a big trash bag and threw them away.

[@rusticlifefarm6264]

@@DrDTPeck-Betterbee LOL I had some frames that were not nearly as bad but due to them being wood I just tossed them too. If plastic I would have scraped and pressure washed. Thanks for the update !

[@CastleHives]

Oh man that is nasty. I have 1 hive body that needs cleaned up, found it had absconded the other day.