# HELP...white worms found in droppings on plastic drawer of screened botom board



## TheRatLover (May 13, 2012)

I removed my two screened bottom board plastic inserts or what Mann Lake calls the 'drawer,' and in the layer of bee droppings, I found very small white worms. I believe wax worms are much larger than these are....plus, I spotted a moth fly to the ground, but it is was very thin and dainty..silver-grey, not as pictures portray the wax moth.

OKAY...questions!

What do you think these worms were? 

During summer do I remove the plastic drawer?

If I leave it in, do I clean it every time I inspect (my perspective is YES!)

If enemy bees are entering the rear area under the screen once in awhile and just a couple every now and then, could this mean a defective bottom board?

Last week when I viewed the hive, no black areas with worms were noted. Nor did I see any worms or moths on the frames. From what I know of wax moths, they only infest unused frames or weak hives, correct? 


Any thoughts would help...

-Lori


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

Lori, these are probably wax moth larvae, I seen a small moth like you described in one of my hives as well, if your hive is strong enough it can fend off these bottom feeders, your hive sounds like a small colony from your previous posts and this may be the reason they are under attack and yes I would clean off the plastic drawer each time you are in the hives, the wax droppings from the bees working the wax above that collect on this drawer and will attract moths.


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## TheRatLover (May 13, 2012)

My other hive had to be re-queened by replacing the new one that could have been Africanized. Here is a frame of this hive that had some white spots. It was not larvae, but white gooey inside a few cells. Any thoughts?


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

I forgot to mention that entrances on hives should be sized to the colones needs at all times, better to be a little conjested than to have a large opening where wax moths and robbers can sneak in and gain a foothold.


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## TheRatLover (May 13, 2012)

WWW said:


> your hive sounds like a small colony from your previous posts and this may be the reason they are under attack and yes I would clean off the plastic drawer each time you are in the hives, the wax droppings from the bees working the wax above that collect on this drawer and will attract moths.


 Hopefully I caught this soon enough. I thought only unused frames had this problem. Is this something the hive has to keep in check or it's over for the hive? Is there anything I can do other than keep that bottom board area clean to help the hive(s)?


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

I have no idea what the white spots are, perhaps someone else on here has seen this and may be able to answer this question.


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## TheRatLover (May 13, 2012)

WWW said:


> I forgot to mention that entrances on hives should be sized to the colones needs at all times, better to be a little conjested than to have a large opening where wax moths and robbers can sneak in and gain a foothold.


 So are you saying that a screened bottom board is not the best choice? I thought it helped with airflow....


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

If you could infuse the weaker hive with a couple of frames of brood and adhearing bees from the other stronger hive it would be a big help to them. but I would do it in the early morning when only a few bees are out flying to avoid triggering another robbing frenzy, the adhearing nurse bees will work to clean up any larvae and wax moths on the frames......Bill


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

The screened bottom board is a good thing in hotter climates but there are a lot of cracks and little openings that these small wax moths can slip through. Where I live in southeast Ohio I use a solid bottom board which works just fine. There was a thread on here a while back where people where wondering if the sbb had any real value and these people were going back to solid boards. Well I have to sign off now, it was good talking to you and I hope thing work out for you. You can always PM me if you wish to talk further....Bill


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## TheRatLover (May 13, 2012)

Here's my predicament. I have 2 hives. 

First hive: Started up from nuc on May 12th

*Initially just a month ago, it was strong with 94% full deep and two meds full of honey.
*Just one month ago, it was booming with beautiful frames of brood and honey!!!
*Recently lost queen 3 1/2 weeks ago due to either swarming or accidental death of queen. (I had started treating ants with liquid boric acid solution - holes small to keep other bugs/bees out. Also, I had checkerboarded two mediums...one full of honey, the other empty)
*I vacationed for 2 1/2 weeks, came back to hive with NO brood! One queen cup or cell noted







*I re-queened last Friday after removing existing queen, and I took one frame of brood from my second hive (the one now being attacked)

Second hive: Started up end of may due to having to swap out former nuc that did not grow. 

* Seems to struggle at building hive. So far, growth seems poor (even though it finally reached 8-9 frames full of honey and brood) which makes me wonder if location or bottom board a problem.
* Robbers every now and then attempt to enter bottom board area, yet have never attempted to enter my other hives bottom board.
* Brood not in large amounts
* Took one frame to use for other hive when re-queening.


I don't think I can do what you ask because both hives are weak in brood. I believe I am hanging on thin ice regarding my hives. I'm learning tons through all these trials, but I don't know if my bees can handle going through all these trials with me! This is very disheartening...

-Lori


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## Goldprospector (May 17, 2012)

If both Hives are weak, you may want to consider choosing which queen is the strongest or best layer, and combine the hives. I don't recall seeing what size boxes you are running, but it would not be a bad thing to have two deeps going into winter. 
I am not sure a about the white Gooey stuff either as I really cant tell anything from the picture. If it is a disease, then a combine may kill both hives. If you have a local experienced beek that might could help with an inspection, then they may be able to Identify it.


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## Keth Comollo (Nov 4, 2011)

Any chance you could get a close up shot of the white stuff you describe? From the picture it is difficult to tell as it is fuzzy and a bit too far away.


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## TheRatLover (May 13, 2012)

Keth Comollo said:


> Any chance you could get a close up shot of the white stuff you describe? From the picture it is difficult to tell as it is fuzzy and a bit too far away.


 One week from tomorrow, I will be checking to see how the hive has responded to my newly introduced queen. As I inspect, I will try to take some shots, esp if the white stuff is still there. One thing I know is that it was not stringy, but looked like deposits that the bees made....

BTW, I did some reading on wax moths, and my hives should not be overtaken by it as they are still strong.


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