Butterfly NOT waxmoth !
Today started well. The sun was shining and the bees were buzzing which reminded me it was time to see if the bees were ok. It's a bit hot in a beekeeping suit on a warm day but the inspections were going well until I reach the last of my 5 hives . This hive had been queenless earlier in the year but I had moved a frame carrying a couple of queen cells from another hive and this had been very successful. On inspection 4 weeks later the new queen was laying and there were plenty of eggs and cells filled with brood visible. Imagine my horror when I opened the hive up today and found total destruction inside. I seldom feel vindictive but I HATE wax moths with a passion ! This nasty insignificant flitty little brown moth crawls in the hive and lays her eggs. The grubs hatch out and then proceed to devour the comb ,leaving trails of cobweb material & excreta as they grow. They reach a size of about 2 x 0.5 cm and look like fat greyish wiggling maggots. They then munch into the wood of the hive spin a cocoon before they hatch out and continue the cycle. I have done what I can to rescue the bees that are left but I suspect they may not build up enough to survive the winter.
I did take some photos but I decided that I didn't want to put one of these on blip.
I calmed down and took this instead which is much lovelier.
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