Tip of the Month – Dealing with Wax Moth Tip from Bert Laan – SWHB Membership Secretary I made up a travel screen from stainless steel mesh bought on line and strips of plywood. The plywood strips are 25 mm (1 inch) wide and are glued together. Commercially made travel screens are stapled (as is the crown board above) but I do not have the right machine, and I do have glue. The join in the two sandwich frames are staggered, i.e. in the attached photograph the bottom right join is vertical, but on the frame underneath it is horizontal. It makes the whole assembly a bit stronger and so far I have had no problems. I have had problems with wax moth getting into, and moving through stored boxes with drawn comb. As I hate the mess and waste of wax moth damaged comb I made some finer mesh screens also, along the same line as the travel screen. The mesh was sold as “midge” mesh and is stainless steel. Plastic mesh will not do as wax moth can chew through plastic, wood and it also seems, my polystyrene Nuc. The midge mesh, although stainless steel can be cut with scissors without too much effort. Do not use your best or dress-makers scissors, they will not be the best afterwards. Be careful with the edges of the stainless mesh, that will be sharp and will score hands and fingers very easily (again 2nd hand T shirt is available). Once in the plywood frames there is no danger to skin. The travel screen mesh is 2.5 mm (hole size) and the midge mesh is 0.45 mm. The company will no doubt provide ready-cut mesh to your requirements. I place one wax moth mesh between my stored boxes and can verify that it excludes wax moth and larvae. I put the frames in the freezer for 48 hrs to kill off any hidden larvae, and it works. The 2.5 mm mesh has to be bought ready-cut. Cost is £ 7.50 per 450 x 450 sheet. The midge mesh was bought on a roll of 3m x 1m at a cost of £ 69.00. That seems a lot, but I mis-calculated because 1 x 1 m will give 4 screens, I bought too much. The above shows the travel screen with 50 P piece for mesh size, 2.5 mm Wax moth screen with midge mesh of 0.45 mm
