Help: Fallen Comb - and small worms

[mtbe]

Late last week, a large portion of the bees in one hive were outside, hanging on the hive and hanging on the front of the hive.  This was much more that previous bearding.

It was hot, over 100F for several days, so I didn't think too much of it.  But after the 3rd day, they were still out there, even at night.

So, I did an inspection (I try not to when it's that hot, because a lot of the honeycomb will fall), and found that 7-8 of the comb fell and most of it had actually melted.  Not much to save there...if you have any ideas on what I could have done (except check the hive sooner!), please, please let me know.

Next problem: after the cleaning (I didn't do a complete inspection), the bees disappeared.  Didn't see them the next day.  Did a complete inspection and very few bees to be found.  But, did find a lot of small worms squirming in and out of cells and on the bottom of the box.  I'm assuming these are from small hive beetle....but please let me know and what to do about it.  I only have one more hive and am worried about it too.  I ran out of time tonight to check on them, but also wanted to clean all my tools before entering a possibly healthy hive.  How do I get rid of these worms?  Bees have already left, so this late in Summer, I'm guessing I just clean everything, place it in trash bags and throw it out.

[sawdstmakr]

If you are seeing larva in the bottom, it is because the bees are pulling them out of the comb. Are they small? Only the large ones, @ 1", crawl out on their own. They craw out of the hive to pupate in the soil.
To stop the heat from melting the wax, I add a 1/2" piece of insulation with a metal foil layer, to stop the bees from chewing on it, to the inside of the cover. I also seal the edge with silicone caulking to keep the bugs out of it and keep it in place. If there is brood in those frames, I would use rubber bands to hold them in a frame until the bees can repair it.
Jim

[JP]

It does sound like shb larvae. If you can roll them between your fingers without them popping that's what they are. If they pop they're wax moth larvae. Either way the hive is a goner, sorry to say. The larvae make great chicken feed btw.


...JP

[Jim 134]

It does sound like shb larvae. If you can roll them between your fingers without them popping that's what they are. If they pop they're wax moth larvae. Either way the hive is a goner, sorry to say. The larvae make great chicken feed btw.


...JP

 If the Bee larvae gets to hot or to dry out it will crawl out of the cells be for dieing


      BEE HAPPY Jim 134    

[AllenF]

You can freeze the comb to kill all the SHB and save them for later use.   The key is to kill out the all the future beetles.