Damp, cold conditions seem to encourage this disease. Do not feed the medication immediately before or during a nectar flow. Wax moths are a notorious pest of beekeeping equipment. Adult moths lay eggs near wax combs, then their larvae hatch and begin burrowing through the combs to eat debris in the cells. Moth larvae ruin combs and plaster them with webbing and feces.
Honey bees are usually very good at protecting their colonies from moth larvae.
Moth damage is most common in stored supers of comb. Protect stored supers by stacking them no higher than five hive bodies. Tape shut all cracks, put paradichlorobenzene crystals at the top of the stack and cover the stack with a lid. Replenish the crystals as they evaporate. Tracheal mites were first detected in Georgia in 1986 and have since caused high colony death rates throughout the state.