Master Beekeeper Provides Solace

Well, I finally broke down and called one of the three guys in this industry that I really believe have so much knowledge on bees in central Virginia that you cannot go wrong with them – Tom Fifer. He provided my bees but is really busy, so I hate to bother him (plus, I am certain that most of my questions would only irritate him, being novice ‘worry wort’ questions.) But, with this Wax Moth issue, I decided that I cannot let this one go by without confirming my tactics.

He called last night and confirmed everything that I am doing. Feed these gals and keep a close eye on him. I am not sure that he’s on board with the Robber Screen (he gave me one of his neutral remarks about them, like ‘I’ve heard of them’.) My wife and I laugh about that now, as that seems to be Tom’s way of saying ‘They probably neither hurt nor help, but you can waste your time with that if it makes you feel better!’ Heh. Well, at least he didn’t say they were hurting. And, they do make me feel better, which doesn’t make a daggone difference to the bees!

One comment that he did make was to feed them pollen substitute (‘just a small piece’) to see if they eat some. I was not doing that and I think it is primarily because of the issues that I have with getting the stuff into the daggone hive. I’ll figure out something and get a small piece in there tonight.

He also made the assertion that they would not get into the foundation, which turned out to be incorrect for my Wax Moths. I  hope that is not a bad sign. The Wax Moths that I had exclusively ate the daggone foundation (as far as I could tell.) I will have to watch these things.

At any rate, a 15 minute conversation with him has me in good spirits. I am not out of the woods by a far shot, but I have a plan and it seems to be the best one I can implement. I really can’t wait for that MegaBee supplement to show up.

Jones Tyler

An avid gardener and outdoorsman, I started beekeeping in 2009, give or take, and began using this journal as a way to document my trials and tribulations. Over the years, it has become a part of my hobby, recording events here.

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