Lifesapn of adult waxmoths?

[windfall]

How long does an adult waxmoth live after laying eggs? Do they lay them all in a "clutch" and then die, or attempt multiple entries to hives?

I found the remains of what I assume to be one that the bees were trying to pull out through the mesh I use as mouse guard.

Wondering if that means the bees caught her in the act or that the moth has laid a bunch of eggs in there somewhere?  They(moth eggs) would have to be among the cluster to remain viable in our winters right?

 Where do the moths overwinter in the north?

[BlueBee]

Windfall, if it is warm enough the wax moths will reproduce in a hive ALL WINTER LONG, even in Michigan.  Been there, done that!  This is why I’m not using electric heat this winter.  Well, at least not until my spring buildup experiments like Finski.

Last winter I found crawling wax moths in my heater boxes every month of winter.  They would spin cocoons right on my electric heaters.  I also found adult moths all winter.  They are surprising long lived moths in the adult phase.  My casual guess is they can live for months (maybe more) in the adult phase.

As for eggs surviving winter, I don’t know.  However they can’t multiple like rabbits as long as it isn’t too warm.