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British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • Wax Moth

  • Honeybee pests and diseases.
Honeybee pests and diseases.
 #11842  by Alfred
 29 Aug 2021, 08:22
Does anyone store comb in a freezer(quantity permitting)?
 #11845  by AdamD
 29 Aug 2021, 11:02
Nigel, I used to store my supers in my 'bee workshop' which is heated when I want to use it over winter. And moths can get in through an open door at night in a second - and then see if they can find some wax somewhere. It's easy to knock some boxes so the crown-board comes off a fraction of an inch and they're in.
For the first time last winter, a lot of my supers were stored in an unheated barn.

However, to answer Alfred's question, I put supers in an old chest freezer, 6 at a time, for 48 hours or more and then store them or cart them to the barn whilst frozen. They are stacked up with cardboard between every few boxes to limit the travel of a wax moth if it did happen to get in through a gap somewhere.
 #11850  by Alfred
 29 Aug 2021, 11:21
Thats the crux of it Adam-limiting the damage.
I had virtually ground zero starting point this year after they polished of the inherited combs I had in not-so-sealed-after-all domestic plastic storage boxes
I would really rather not lose any of the new stuff.
Theres only about 40 frames- could I leave them in the freezer until spring?
 #11852  by NigelP
 29 Aug 2021, 16:40
Yes you can. I have about 20+ pollen clogged brood frames that are remaining in my freezer until early spring when I can give my girls a pollen boost. Juts be careful as the wax becomes very brittle.

Thanks for that Adam, I noticed I got major problems with brood frames stored indoors over winter, presumably that bit warmer, but not with super frames. Previous years I had sprayed brood frames with Certan b401 and had no problems. This was no longer stocked and I was told by so called reliable sources that dipel was the same stuff and did the same job. It isn't and didn't....it cost me a lot of drawn brood frames a couple of years back.
 #11853  by Steve 1972
 29 Aug 2021, 17:37
Is it totally 100% Safe to store extracted drawn wet supers in the freezer over winter..the thing that worries me is if the bees reject them once defrosted..if it is a tried and tested method I have 270 + wet supers to try and cram into a huge chest freezer..I would be devisted if it ruined them..
 #11854  by Steve 1972
 29 Aug 2021, 18:57
Ignore that last post as it is not going to happen .. :roll: ..the freezer will only take seventy..
 #11855  by Alfred
 29 Aug 2021, 20:27
Steve Ive given broodframes to hives straight from the freezer and theyre over them like a rash-it was just the trces of residual honey I was concerned about.
Ive also got around 30 kilo of wax to render as Im running out of space but I dont want them to access that either.....
 #11856  by Steve 1972
 29 Aug 2021, 20:46
I have never had any problems with wax waiting to be melted..but then again I might not have noticed as the saftey of drawn supers is more important to me at this time of the year..however you have now got me thinking which is not always a good thing.. :roll:
 #11861  by AdamD
 30 Aug 2021, 10:23
"....straight from the freezer"
Do you mean" after they have warmed up a bit"?
 #11862  by Alfred
 30 Aug 2021, 15:20
They weren't fuming like they'd been in liquid nitrogen and the 50 yard trundle from the freezer to the hive may have thawed them a bit.
Otherwise they went straight in to a warm welcome.