When I first posted on the beehive destruction, November 4...
I incorrectly said it was caused by a butterfly
The real cause was the
wax moth which causes the beehive devastation
I did some research on the subject of beehive pest management and realized
the mistake when reading on the subject of the wax moth.
I apologize for the confusion...
and with that, this post has been revised
*****
Too much rain has left it's mark...
it's been difficult to check frequently on the beehives due to all the rain
my husband brought over
one of the beehives from under the cocoa trees
a devastating picture of what happens when these certain creatures
take over weakened beehives...
we believe there was a problem with this hive from so much water
which allowed the wax moth to come in and take over
wax moths are a common pest to the beehives that have become weakened...
most likely due to a disease, weak queen or other cause
that make the bees leave the hive
if you look at the photo below...
you can see the indentations from these creatures
moth larvae which feed on the honeycombs
the wax moths
had taken to laying their eggs in one of our beehives...
if nothing else...
the chickens had a feast on the larvae
a young man who has beehives and experience of his own...
kindly came over and helped us check the other beehive for larvae
he knows what to look for and happily...
the other beehive is safe
we gave him the salvaged beeswax as payment for helping...
he will use it to build more wax cones for his own beehives
a learning experience for us...
we are still getting to know about beekeeping
we never knew such a thing could happen with wax moths
we took some of the cones that still had some moth eggs...
and put them in a freezer to kill them off...
the beehive will be rebuilt and a new queen introduced...
and the bee entrance made just a tad smaller...
so the honey bees doing the sentry work will have an easier job at fending off intruders
for more info on this subject...click link below
in the meantime...
I opened the door to the chick cage and let them out into the big coop
to enjoy some run around time
and while these chicks entertained themselves with crawling ants...
and flying knats...
I checked out my newest rose on my ever growing rose bush
life on a farm...
there is always something interesting
May your day, or night be blessed with God's grace
