Storing Combs
Arbeiten am Bienenstand
Combs are stored cool and well ventilated, ideally under 10 degrees Celsius for brood combs and food combs.
Combs are stored cool and well ventilated, ideally under 10 degrees Celsius for brood combs and food combs. A tower of empty boxes over a mouse-proof screened bottom board has proven effective, with a screen on top as well and the cover a few centimeters above it so air can pass through. Empty combs keep for a year this way without concern. Food combs, on the other hand, only for a few weeks, because breakdown products form.
Wax moth larvae do not eat pure wax, but pollen residues and cocoons. Combs that only ever held honey are uninteresting to them. Store brooded and unbrooded combs separately, therefore, otherwise infestation spreads across, and hang them with air space between. The larvae need warmth to develop; the figures for the lower limit vary between about 9 and 14 degrees, and they do not like drafts.
Cold works reliably: several hours below minus 15 degrees kill all developmental stages. The picture is confusing when it comes to agents. The same advisory body states in one place that no approved biocides are available, and names acetic acid, sulfur strips, and Bacillus thuringiensis in another. So get current advice from the relevant authority before using anything. Pure honeycombs need none of this.