# Big mistake- skipping the BT when storing drawn frames



## Pete O (Jul 13, 2013)

Usually when I put my empty drawn frames into the attic for storage I spray each frame with BT; summer I didn’t. Last night when I went to grab a few frames to replace honey bound deep frames, flying in my face was a cloud of dark gray moths fleeing the stack of boxes. 

Ultimately one box was heavily damaged- seven drawn frames utterly destroyed and a few more with damage. The moral- ALWAYS use BT on stored drawn frames!


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## homesteader824 (Jun 9, 2012)

I had good luck using BT on empty drawn combs. Unfortunately, the wax moths were still able to ruin comb that had pollen stored in it. I wonder if that has been the experience of others who use BT?


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## Victor (Apr 11, 2015)

Sorry for the newbee question, but what is BT?
Thanks.


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## tnnewbe (Mar 21, 2010)

Victor
BT stands for Bacillus Thuringiensis 
it's used to kill the wax moth larvae when they bite into the comb and contents. It will not stop the wax moths from laying eggs
A brand that most seem to use is Xen Tari. Here is a link to it: https://www.amazon.com/Xentari-XenT...91&sr=8-10&keywords=bacillus+thuringiensis+bt

Ken


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## burns375 (Jul 15, 2013)

I use moth crystals on a stack of boxes. It will kill any moths/larva inside. Once winter hits open them up to ventilate... the concern of moths is pretty small but you could still have some damage if you had a few moths in your house wintering. In summer it doesn't take long for moths to do alot of damage.The higher the temperature the faster the destruction.


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

Victor said:


> Sorry for the newbee question, but what is BT?
> Thanks.


Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. aizawai strain ABTS-1857 is a bacterium found naturally in soil.
Fermentation solids, spores and insecticidal toxins from the culturing of this bacterium are used to formulate XenTari. Which is a semi host specific Bacterium.
There are several Bacillus thuringiensis which are used to control insects. The subspecies Aizawai strain ABTS-1857 is that most effective against wax moth larva.


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## mlanden (Jun 19, 2016)

I've not yet looked for Bt subsp aizawai, but I'm going to place some mothballs (PDB -- paradichlorobenzene, I think) in the bags where I'm storing my frames this winter. I hope that's not going to be a problem re: future toxicity to bees ...... Some of my frames have remaining pollen and wax on them. I've just finished freezing the 36 frames on which I had wax maggot damage/infiltration.


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## Victor (Apr 11, 2015)

Thanks for the info, Tenbears and Tnnewbe.


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## rpharr (Dec 24, 2013)

Homesteader824, I learned that lesson a few weeks ago. Bta worked well on honey frames with no pollen. Any frame with pollen, no matter how much, was attacked. Lesson learned. From now on, any frame with ANY pollen goes back on the hive for bees to protect.


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## DPBsbees (Apr 14, 2011)

If they still attacked frames with pollen you didn't use enough per quart or your coverage wasn't good enough.


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## Aroc (May 18, 2016)

Can someone store them in a freezer?


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## rpharr (Dec 24, 2013)

I used a heaping teaspoon per gallon applied with a pump up sprayer. What do you suggest? Still learning.


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## DPBsbees (Apr 14, 2011)

Aroc said:


> Can someone store them in a freezer?


That works too, but I'd need a walk-in freezer at this point which is why I moved away from freezing.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Any living organism that needs to breathe will need oxygen to survive.
Without oxygen even a wax moth larva cannot live.
I'm thinking to use a vacuum to suck all the air out of the garbage
bag with a drawn frame inside. And then tie it or seal it with a plastic food sealer. 
Will this keep the comb intact until Spring time again? How about after sucking the air
out then pump some CO2 inside the bag?


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## Shazam (Mar 1, 2010)

beepro said:


> Any living organism that needs to breathe will need oxygen to survive.
> Without oxygen even a wax moth larva cannot live.
> I'm thinking to use a vacuum to suck all the air out of the garbage
> bag with a drawn frame inside. And then tie it or seal it with a plastic food sealer.
> ...


I've heard of beeks doing this, by putting some dry ice in with the frames/boxes, letting if sublimate for a time to get the bag saturated with CO2 and then sealing the bag. Don't know the efficacy.


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