# Alternatives to chemicals for wax moth?



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Justin3 said:


> I heard that if you take the drawn honey comb supers and stand them on end the wax moth wont get to them because of fresh air.


It's the light, not the fresh air. Not that fresh air doesn't hurt.

All of my drawn comb is stored either on colonies or on warehouse pallets covered w/ blue or green tarps and left outdoors when not in use. I loose very little to wax moth. Very little of it has any pollen in also. Which is what the wax moth is after.

Why don't we call them pollen moths?


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

I thought just regular moth balls would do the trick. So in the situation that you have a hive put them under with a tarp over it and that should keep them out. Someone with real experience should be able to help better.


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

Freezer.

Bt if you don't consider it a chemical, I think its more biological.

Be carefull with the moth balls, there are two different kinds, & only one kind can be used.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Paradychlorol benzene.. i don't think that there is anything wrong w/ that. No residual traces or harm. As far as I know.

How do you use Bt?

Justin, is there a problem w/ using moth balls?


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## Countryboy (Feb 15, 2009)

_How do you use Bt?
_

1 or 2 teaspoons of the BT powder mixed into a gallon of water, and use a clean fruit tree sprayer to mist the combs.


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## peacekeeperapiaries (Jun 23, 2009)

we store ours with the paradychlorol benzene--paramoth. no issues with re-use by the bees and no moth problems, as a plus it stops SHB larvae in its tracks too if SHB is a problem in your area.


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## Justin3 (Jun 10, 2010)

The only things I saw online was para-moth, which they don't sell in CA (where I'm from)

What is moth balls? (same as para-moth)

Just seems like a hassle to stack all of your supers (air tight) then put that moth stuff on the top periodically?

I went from 5 to 20 hives this year...so I have around 20 honey supers to store and I was just looking for an easy (low maintenance) way to store them?????


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## LT (Aug 17, 2006)

So the para moth stops the SHB larvae also? Will it kill theall sizes of larva? Thanks


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

If you live where the winters are cold, you can do this by timing. You pull and harvest the supers. You put them back on the hives and leave them there until the first hard freeze, then you pull them off and stack them so mice can't get in and they stay where they freeze (no heated area) regularly. The wax moths don't get going again until late summer and you put them back on the hives before then.


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## Jeffrey Todd (Mar 17, 2006)

I have seen SHB larvae alive and apparently well after over a week of being sealed up in a stack of supers with plenty of para moth. Those combs, did not, however, sustain any real damage over the course of ten months following


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## JensLarsen (Mar 14, 2007)

Keep honey combs free of pollen, store seperate as cold as possible. Acetic acid on stored brood combs and honey combs with pollen. Cycle all combs through your operation yearly.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Countryboy said:


> _How do you use Bt?
> _
> 
> 1 or 2 teaspoons of the BT powder mixed into a gallon of water, and use a clean fruit tree sprayer to mist the combs.


Spray each comb or just spray up from below between all the frames at once? How do you apply?


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## Black Creek (May 19, 2006)

i spray each comb separately but it's time consuming


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## Countryboy (Feb 15, 2009)

_Spray each comb or just spray up from below between all the frames at once? How do you apply? _

I mist both sides of each comb. I take all the frames from a couple boxes and lay them out.  I give them a quick mist, flip them over and mist them again.

It is time consuming, but I've found it goes much faster if you lay the combs out and spray several at once.

I've never tried misting a whole box at once. If you sprayed into the bottom of the box, and went between each combs, you might get good enough coverage. It'd be something to try on a few boxes.


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