CIRCULAR No. 386 APRIL 1936 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
THE WAX MOTH AND ITS CONTROL 
By WARREN WHITCOMB, Jr., associate apiculturist, Division of Bee Culture, 
Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine 
CONTENTS 
; Page Page 
Economic importance and sources of loss-___-__- 1 | Other moths causing damage to stored combs... 8 
Estonyaandedistribution iss ess nea aie Sul Natural controlics. ses ae see ce a aene ee a= 8 
Tifemhistony see oe eee eee AR WAT titi clalkcomtroleeee: Staessen 9 
MN GYS) Ce Ae se oe OE ee 4 |. Control measures under apiary conditions. 9 
SON a Vas ee te ee Se a A a 4 Control measures in stored equipment____. 9 
PANY OVE) 4 ODT OYE ees oe eat I Sse em ect ee 6 Control measures in stored comb honey... 1 
DOVE WEKo kU Ree es Sa ee ae ea 7 
The wax moth (Galleria mellonella L.) is known under many 
names in different sections of the United States. Beekeepers know 
the insect as the “ wax moth”, “bee moth”, “bee miller”, “ wax 
worm ”, “ web worm ”, and “ wax miller.” It is better known in the 
larval or worm stage than as the adult or moth and is therefore 
generally referred to as the “wax worm” or “ web worm.” 
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE AND SOURCES OF LOSS 
No careful estimate has ever been made of the damage: caused by 
the wax moth. The losses in Texas were at one time estimated at 
5 percent, and in 1911 reports from 186 Texas beekeepers placed 
colony losses at from 5 to 95 percent, according to Texas Agricul- 
tural Experiment Station Bulletin 231. Losses in the Southern 
States are considerably higher than in the North because of the 
longer season of bee and moth activity. Moreover, apiary practices 
in the South, especially that of keeping empty combs on the colonies 
during long, slow honey flows, increase the opportunity for wax moth 
damage. The complete destruction of colonies, however, does not 
represent the total of wax moth damage, since combs in supers may 
be ruined even when the colony is of fair strength. This 1s partic- 
ularly true when two or more hive bodies are placed on the colonies 
during slow flows, or late in the fall for storage. 
Probably the most noticeable loss from wax moth injury is in 
combs in storage, especially if these combs are in a warm, pro- 
tected place, and consists in the destruction of the combs by the 
larvae, which leave them a mass of webs and debris (fig. 1). In 
the North such losses are more common than the destruction of 
entire colonies. 
36749°— 36——1 
