Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The bee wax moth is a problematic pest that has been a problem to Kenyan bee farmers for some time now. This study has tried to answer if the observed factors affected the infestation rate of the pest.

The bee wax moth is nocturnal and can during the late hours freely enter the hive even if the colony is strong, however, it is only a problem in weak colonies that cannot fend them off. The moth is often not the first disturbance, stress from another pest, scarcity of food, heat etc. can leave the hive open too an attack.
There are many options for control of the bee wax moth e.g. heat or cold treatment of the stored combs, breeding programs for more effective bees, biological control and insecticides. These control methods are sometimes difficult to implement due to different prerequisites in different countries, in Kenya for example they do not profit from the cold winter that could kill the bee wax moth, but instead benefit from harvesting honey all year round. This also means that they do not have the same need for storage of their frames and boxes and some methods of control are therefore unsuitable. A preferable solution would be to be able to lessen the infestation rate from the start to make up for the lack of available control methods.

Out of the five different factors hypothesized to have an effect on infestation rate, hive type, number of hives in one location, type of suspension, placed in shadow or sun exposed and clearing of the ground, none proved to be significant. However, both hive type and type of suspension showed that there is the inclination of a trend. The subject could use further study since there are many other factors that could affect the infestation rate that are not taken into consideration in this project.