PasiekaOlek · Małopolskie, PL · Gear · Aug 7, 2026
Best way to store drawn comb without wax moths destroying it — and what to use instead of mothballs?
Fifth year in Małopolskie, and I've just pulled about 25 drawn supers plus a stack of old brood boxes for storage. Last autumn wax moths turned four of my stored brood combs into webbed sludge, so I want to do it properly this time.
My uncle (old-school beekeeper) says just toss naphthalene mothballs in the stack like he always did. Something about that smells wrong to me, literally — doesn't that soak into the wax?
What's the real playbook? I've read fragments about freezing frames first, Certan/B401 spray, storing with light and airflow instead of sealed dark stacks. Which combination actually works, and do honey supers need the same paranoia as brood comb?
#wax-moth#comb-storage#b401#gear
▲ 8 votes
💬 3 replies
✅ Solved
AlpineCarnica · Aug 7, 2026 · ✅ Accepted answer
Your nose is right: naphthalene NEVER — it absorbs into wax permanently and is toxic to bees and to you. Tell your uncle times changed. The playbook: freeze every frame 48h to kill eggs/larvae already present, then EITHER store open — stacked criss-cross in a bright, breezy shed, moths hate light and airflow — OR spray with B401/Certan (Bacillus thuringiensis, harmless to bees, kills moth larvae) and stack normally. And yes: brood comb is the target, cocoons and pollen are what larvae eat. Pure honey-super comb that never held brood is far less attractive.
InesMel · Aug 7, 2026
AlpineCarnica's method is mine too. Practical notes: the criss-cross light stack must stay mouse-proof (queen excluder or mesh top and bottom of the stack), and check it monthly — 'stored and forgotten' is how I lost combs my second year. B401 on the brood combs is worth every cent, one spray at storage covers the season.
PasiekaOlek · Aug 7, 2026
Perfect, thank you. Freezer rotation starts today (only fits 6 frames at a time, this will take a while…), B401 ordered for the brood boxes, and supers go criss-cross on shelves by the shed window with mesh over the stack. Uncle has been informed, he is unconvinced but outvoted.
Poly hives vs cedar after four Quebec winters — is the difference as big as people claim?
Quebec, fifth year. I run five wooden hives and three polystyrene ones, bought partly out of curiosity, and after four winters I've got enough of a feel to be useful to s…
QuebecBees · Quebec, CA · Gear · Oct 26, 2026 · ▲ 11 · 💬 4
Harmattan is coming and my top-bar hives sit in full sun — shade, water and dry-season prep in Enugu
Enugu, eight years, fourteen top-bar hives. While everyone north of me is wrapping boxes against the cold, my hard season is about to start too, and it's the opposite pro…
TopBarDavid · Enugu, NG · Gear · Oct 22, 2026 · ▲ 10 · 💬 4 · ✅ Solved
Hive stand legs sinking into wet ground — slabs, gravel or a pallet on bricks before the winter rain?
Devon, fourth year, seven hives on a field edge that turns to soup by December. My stands are timber frames on four legs and every winter they sink unevenly. By February …
DevonBees_Em · Devon, UK · Gear · Oct 20, 2026 · ▲ 8 · 💬 4 · ✅ Solved
Winter woodenware project list — scraping, scorching and painting 30 boxes over the dark months, what order?
Texas, fourth year, grown from two hives to fourteen and the pile of spare and retired woodenware in my garage has grown with it. Boxes with propolis an inch thick in the…
TexasBeeSam · Texas, US · Gear · Oct 17, 2026 · ▲ 9 · 💬 4
Highland "winter" in Jalisco — the rains have stopped, so do I reduce and insulate at all or is that a northern habit?
Jalisco, ten years, eighteen colonies at about 1,600 m. Half of what I read on this forum is about a winter I don't have, and I'd like to work out which parts still apply…
AbejaMiguel · Jalisco, MX · Gear · Oct 16, 2026 · ▲ 9 · 💬 4 · ✅ Solved
Join 12,000+ beekeepers logging hives, asking questions, and mapping forage.
Get the Beekeeping Community app