At 60+ degrees today I went into both hives to remove the HTF's. Lots of crystallized syrup. I broke it up on to a cookie sheet & left it for the bees. However, in Mary I found 4 frames infected with Wax moth. 2 frames in the top box & the 2 adjacent frames in the bottom box. The frames had pollen & some uncapped honey. The frames had to go into the freezer; which would leave a substantial hole in the hive. So I broke Mary down to a 1 brood box hive. All I had left to do was pick the 6 additional frames to remove. I left Mary with 5 honey frames, 2 pollen frames, & 3 brood frames. She has a smaller population so the 1 deep should be better. It may be that she had too small a population for the 2 deeps leading to the wax moth problem anyway. When I checked her 4 weeks ago I saw NO Wax moth. I thought After a few freezes I wouldn't need to worry about Wax moth any more. Oh well...
Wax Moth web & frass ^
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Wax Moth mining pollen ^
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Wax Moth webbing ^
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Mary with 1 deep & the crystallized syrup ^
Myrina looked fine with a good population and plenty of reserves. I also closed off 6 of the 9 holes in each of the vent covers on both hives. 3 holes should be enough to vent the humid bee breath. I'll monitor for condensation throughout winter.
Wax Moth web & frass ^
Wax Moth mining pollen ^
Wax Moth webbing ^
Mary with 1 deep & the crystallized syrup ^
2 comments:
60 degrees wow it was like summer for your Thanksgiving.
Thanks for the update
Hi Anon,
You must be way up North if 60's are Summer like. Around here Summer is more like high 90's to low 100's. We have moderate Winters with occasional fly days each month. Every year so far I open the hives on Turkey day to show the guests a thing or two about bees.
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