Wax moths destroyed our oldest hive. On July 1, we harvested 10 frames of gorgeous, amber-colored honey from that hive. In mid-August, we checked to see how they were doing with the new frames we’d added. Today, the entire hive was overrun with wax moth larvae that had destroyed everything in their path: comb, honey, brood.
I am heartbroken.
Emily
Red Fork Hippie 
No! This is sad. I am so sorry for you. Losing a hive, especially a good one, is never fun.
Thanks. The most frustrating part is that it is, at least in part, my own fault.
Ron had propped the top cover up with a small board to try to ventilate the hive during a heat wave this summer, as other beekeepers had suggested, and it worked so well that I never bothered to make the screened inner hive cover that I had intended to build. With the hive open like that, the moths had a perfect opportunity to come in and trash the joint before the girls knew what hit them. In retrospect, we think the colony had lost its queen sometime in the last month or so, and it just wasn’t strong enough to fend off the invaders.
These fuzzy little girls have a way of wrapping themselves around our hearts when we let them.
I am not really on speaking terms with myself this evening.
Well, bummer! I’m so sorry.
Forgive yourself, Emily.
What you need to do is learn from this and move on. Beating oneself up over things you can’t change is counterproductive.
I’m very sorry for the loss of your hive. May He restore to you what the [moth] has eaten.
Oh, Emily, I’m sorry to hear that. Poor little bee friends. You were a good mama to them.