Not a Pretty Picture.

 A few months ago, I had an email from Hugh’s wife saying that they were moving away to be near their family and could I find a home for his beekeeping equipment. He had always puzzled me, having been a dentist he must have been used to making decisions and organizing his life; as a beekeeper he was had no idea what to do and was utterly dependent on his mentor Jim. We hadn’t heard from Hugh for a long time and it transpires that the reason they are moving is because he has dementia and they both need a lot of family support; when I went to visit, while he was pleasant enough, he had no idea who I was and remembered nothing of the beekeeping club.
 
It turned out that the equipment was useful and in good condition - though I didn’t inspect it too thoroughly and was aware that some of the choicer items had already gone; I guess that Jim had taken what he found useful some years ago. He was a good bloke and had helped set up the Newbattle beekeeping enterprise shortly before he died, so I bear him no grudge. I offered to buy what was left but they refused, so we agreed that I should make a donation to club funds for what I thought it was worth.
 
I have just started sterilising everything in preparation for the year and found the honeycomb had been ravaged by wax moth, closely related to the carpet moth but used to a different diet. It’s a lttle difficult to see in a two dimensional picture, but much of the wax in the honey cell walls has disappeared to be converted into moth and excrement, the latter being held together with silk, some strands of which can be seen trailing across the comb. Had there been bees present, the moth wouldn’t have stood a chance and, had the beekeeper done his job, the combs, their frames and the containing boxes would have been wrapped in plastic bin bags along with some pads soaked in acetic acid; that would also have prevented the considerable mouse damage. Jim would have known better.