The Ferreira Apiary Wax Moth Larvae

The Ferreira Apiary Wax Moth Larvae

There are two varieties of moth which take delight in dining on wax the ‘Greater’ and also the ‘Lesser’ Wax Moth the greater wax moth is a mottled grey in color approx 1 ½ inches in length while the lesser is smaller and slimmer approx a ½ inch in length and white/silver. As all moths, they prefer night time to mate and lay eggs.

Larvae of the wax moth
Wax moth larvae
Most wax moths are seen in early summer in our area, and we see them under the overhang of hive roofs, out of the daylight, when the hive is disturbed they take off quickly and disappear into the trees.

Preferring to work in the dark the moths enter the hive through top entrances left unscreened and unguarded by the bees, perhaps a sudden cold snap making the bees cluster, and lay eggs in cracks unavailable to the bees. These hatch in due course and the grey larvae begin feeding on wax and hive debris, tunneling just under the cell caps and feeding on the discarded cocoons left by the bees, leaving behind an extremely sticky white web, similar to spiders web but almost impossible to pull apart.

[Diymarta]

Did you find this in a hive that had been abandoned?