[board] Fwd: [Buzz] Wax moth or different pesky bug? - approved?

[Jim Lawson]

Did someone approve this post from GTP? I think it was appropriate to do so, but I see there's an almost identical message in the moderation queue. It could be that GTP sent this message twice and a single copy was approved (which was exactly the right thing to do). The other copy should just be discarded.

> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: GTP <gtp086 at gmail.com>
> Subject: [Buzz] Wax moth or different pesky bug?
> Date: June 17, 2026 at 10:45:27 PM PDT
> To: Buzz - email list <buzz at buzz.marinbeekeepers.org>
> 
> 
> 
> Probably an Australian Sap Beetle.
> They have preference for bee bread/pollen stored in frames.
> They lay eggs in the pollen cells, and the larva work their way through the pollen, processing it into a grainy dust like very fine sawdust. 
> If the pollen frames are protected by a colony... no problem.  Stored pollen frames are vulnerable. 
> Freezing for a couple of days to 0ºF (as my brother referred to it, no-temperature) kills all stages. eggs, adults, larva. 
> After freezing, you can store frames in bug-proof containers. 
> 
> The other option is to renew the frame because the pollen was probably stored in old, black brood comb anyway. 
> I opt to cycle out and renew frames that have been used by the bees for brood for 3 to 5 years. 
> I don't share the opinion that drawn comb used for raising brood is good forever.  
> The cell diameters get smaller with each generation.  After years, what pathogens can they harbor.
> I got a box-worth of hand-me-down brood frames one year, and used them in various hives.  
> Those hives went down-hill over the following months. 
> I guessed a correlation between the hand-me-down equipment and problems.
> So I gathered all those (old, suspected of being contaminated) frames from the various hives, stripped out the old black comb, and converted those 
> frames to foundationless frames (because I didn't feel good about continuing to dispose of plastic sheets in the landfill).
> The following year the general health of all the colonies was better. 
> 
> That's my 2¢
> 
> On 6/17/26 3:06 PM, Gaia Toscano wrote:
>> Hello fellow beekeepers!
>> 
>> A few months ago I lost one hive and brought all the 40 frames home, freezing them for 10 days.
>> I had to freeze them in 4 batches because my freezer is not big enough.
>> Yesterday I wanted to use the frames to give more space to my other hives but I found these little tiny bugs.
>> I thought wax moths had gotten a hold of my frames again after freezing because I saw spiderweb-like filaments, tiny yellowish wax crumbles and some dark brown spots that resembled wax moth activity.
>> I couldn’t find moths or larvae but found these tiny bugs instead. 
>> See two blurry pictures below; they kept moving...
>> What are they?
>> Thanks in advance for your help!����
>>  
>> [ pictures removed ]
>> 
>> Gaia Toscano 
>> ACC, CPCC
>> 415 686 4168
>> 
>> 
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