The researchers are using saliva from the larvae of the greater wax moth, commonly known as wax worms. These creatures are a well known pest that attacks and destroys honeybee hives. They are also ...

It began when biochemist [Federica Bertocchini] cleaned a wax moth infestation from her beehive ... wasn’t just mechanical and that the worms were digesting the polyethylene, to the tune ...

But those contained in the saliva of the wax worm moth – Galleria mellonella – can act in only a few hours, the research showed (see graphic). Researcher Federica Bertocchini is an avid beekeeper.