Using black solider fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) to clean unwanted beeswax from equipment

In beekeeping, unwanted beeswax periodically needs to be cleaned from equipment, especially queen excluders and frames. This process is usually costly, laborious, or needs specialized equipment. A simple, insect-based method for cleaning beeswax is presented, which is based on black solider fly larvae (BSFL, Hermetia illucens). BSFL were shown to prefer dirty, brown wax over cleaner yellow wax, and are able to completely remove wax from equipment within 24 h, even in hard-to-reach crevices, without prior scraping. Bees are further shown to accept and build comb on BSFL-cleaned plastic frames, with a preference for frames that had been rubbed with a block of wax.