Lost the OV Hive

I had been trying to not be in the bees all the time this summer but had I inspected more regularly I could have prevented the loss of the OV hive.

I was afraid the hive was too full and going to swarm so I left 5 boxes on to give them plenty of room but they swarmed anyway and the 5 boxes meant there was way to much of a hive for the few bees left behind to take care of. The wax moths moved in, made nests, ate wax and any brood and honey that was left behind. The remaining bees couldn't defend so much space and eventually died when their normal 42 days of life were up. 

Wax Moth Larvae Destruction

What you see in the photo here is the destruction caused by wax moth larvae. I was devastated when I opened the hive to find this knowing this was my fault! A strong and healthy colony could have successfully defended the hive against this.

Nearly every frame was affected. We froze 30 frames that weren't too badly affected as freezing them will kill any eggs and larvae that may be present and then scraped the remaining wax comb off of another 20 frames. We put them through a freeze cycle as well and they'll be ready for next spring.

The Dmitry hive has 5 boxes on it, lots of bees and honey so they are set for the winter.

I'm quite sad I lost my first, strong hive. But that's why it's called keeping bees. You've got to tend them - I could have prevented this had made the hive smaller after the swarm so that the few bees could have stopped the larvae from taking over.