Comb Storage
Lexikon
Drawn comb kept over winter or between two nectar flows is above all threatened by the Greater and Lesser Wax Moth.
Drawn comb kept over winter or between two nectar flows is above all threatened by the Greater and Lesser Wax Moth. The larvae eat their way through the wax and destroy the comb as soon as it contains pollen or remnants of brood cocoons.
The safest rule is: store only light-colored comb that has never been used for brood and contains no pollen. For this, an airy, light and dry storage space is sufficient. Comb that has been used for brood or that contains pollen is better melted down promptly. A queen excluder in the operation prevents honey comb from being used for brood in the first place.
Wax moths become active from about twelve degrees; below this threshold they do no harm. Cold is therefore a way to keep comb free of infestation. Lightly infested comb can be fully de-infested with forty-eight hours at minus eighteen degrees, which kills all stages of the moth. Comb with webbing balls belongs straight in the wax melter.
The airy tower of boxes has also proven effective: do not fill boxes completely, do not let combs touch each other, keep a distance from the ground, and close the tower top and bottom with bee-tight mesh. The resulting draft is avoided by the wax moth. Rules for chemical methods in comb storage vary by country; the current guidance of the responsible authority is what matters here.