Moth control

Treatment and prevention against wax moth: Bacillus thuringiensis, frame protectors, sulphur wicks and sprayers. From €8.99 to €43.95.

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Beekeeping Sprayer 1L

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Joshua Ivars
Joshua Ivars
With over 15 years of experience in beekeeping, Joshua collaborates with the national beekeeping congress as part of the scientific committee in the area of innovation and sustainability.

My recommendation on fighting the wax moth

The wax moth isn't usually the main problem in a strong, well-populated colony; the problem appears when there are frames with no bees to defend them, weak colonies or supers stored without protection. That's why, for me, the first measure isn't to buy a product, but to sort out the management: adjusting the hive volume to the population, removing frames that aren't covered, renewing old wax and not storing combs with pollen or brood remains as if they were clean honey frames. Dark combs, with brood cocoons or pollen, are much more attractive to the moth than new wax or a light super comb.

My advice is to separate two situations. If the moth appears inside a colony, first ask yourself why that colony can't defend its combs: few bees, a weak queen, too much space, hunger, varroa, disease or bad wintering. There it's a good idea to reduce volume, move to a nuc, strengthen or unite colonies if needed. If the problem is in storage, then you do have to protect the material: cold, ventilation, frequent checking, freezing, properly used sulphur or specific treatments like Bacillus thuringiensis when they fit your management. And here I'll take a clear stand: I wouldn't use improvised remedies or products not designed for beekeeping. A comb meant to go back to the hive or to be near the honey can't be contaminated to save time.

Before buying, I'd look at what material you want to protect, whether they're supers or brood frames, whether there's pollen, the storage time, the storage temperature and whether you can close or ventilate the space well. Sulphur wicks can be useful on stored frames, but they don't kill eggs and require safety, subsequent ventilation and well-isolated material to prevent new egg-laying. Freezing works well if done correctly and the material is then kept closed afterwards. If the comb is already very destroyed, often the most sensible thing is to melt the wax, clean the frame and not waste time trying to save what's already lost. With the wax moth, prevention is much cheaper than recovery.

Moth Control products - Protect your combs and beeswax

Moth control

Wax moth does not attack a strong colony: it attacks stored comb. And it does not attack all comb equally.

Why it goes for old comb

What the moth larva eats is not the wax: it is the protein. A black comb after thirteen to fifteen brood generations holds around 46 % actual wax — the rest is cocoons, larval remains and accumulated pollen. That is its food.

That is why super comb, pale and never bred in, stores far better than brood comb. And why the first measure against moth is not bought: it is renewing frames — 20 to 30 % of the brood chamber every year — and not storing what is no longer worth keeping.

The three treatments, and when each one applies

  • Bacillus thuringiensis (Belthirul Cerapol, €8.99) — a bacterium that acts on the larva. Sprayed onto the comb before storing, with a pump sprayer. It is preventive: it does not fix comb that is already infested.
  • Frame protector (WAX-VET) — to protect stored frames without treating each one.
  • Sulphur wicks (€9.95) — burned in a closed stack of supers. It works as a gas and kills what is inside, but it leaves no residual effect: you have to repeat it, because surviving eggs hatch later.

What works without buying anything

Cold. Freezing the frames kills every stage, eggs included, and it is the only thing that resolves already-infested comb without a product. Ventilation and light: moth looks for darkness and stillness, so a stack of supers cross-piled, aired and in the light gets attacked far less than a closed heap in a corner.

And dry storage, with no honey or pollen residues. Clean wax keeps; dirty wax calls them in.

When you replace, new foundation has no protein and does not interest the moth: the problem starts once brood has been raised in it.

¿Tienes alguna duda sobre Moth control?

How long must frames be frozen to kill wax moth?

It depends on the temperature you reach: −7 ºC for about 4.5-5 hours, −12 ºC for about 3 hours, or −15 ºC for about 2 hours. It breaks the cycle without putting any product into the wax.

Two conditions decide whether it works. First: those times apply once the whole mass of material has reached temperature, and a dense stack of frames takes considerably longer than a single one. Second: on taking it out, bag or shrink-wrap it; left in the open, the moth lays again and you have frozen for nothing. Do not open the plastic until you are going to use the material.

Why do some combs get attacked and others do not?

Because the larva does not feed on pure wax: it is after the protein associated with brood cocoons, pollen and organic residue. That is why old black combs, and above all those holding pollen, are the vulnerable ones; clean foundation or new comb interests it far less.

From this follows the real prevention, which is not a product: strong colonies, volume matched to the population — the moth exploits the space the bees do not defend — and renewing wax regularly, around 20-30 % a year. And never storing pollen-filled combs unprotected or frames with fermented honey.