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From: ddhess@bellsouth.net
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2001
14:29:17 -0000
To: BiologicalBeekeeping@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Organic wax
I don't know about length of
time for having contaminated wax and
gradually getting it clean. Poisons can adsorb into wax and
presumably will gradually leach out. If you're trying to get
some
clean wax started in the next frame or next super, I don't think
we
know how much the new wax will be picking up. I would think
the best
and probably even most efficient thing to do would be to go cold
turkey. If you don't have a source of pesticide-free wax, you'll
probably want a colony for making some. You should be able to
feed
this colony sugar since its purpose would be to synthesize wax
rather
than process nectar/syrup into honey for human consumption; sucrose,
while not from a source the bees normally harvest, will provide
the
calories for making wax just fine. You'll still probably want
something for starter strips. Cappings wax made into a foundation
strip 1cm wide should probably contribute little-enough pesticide
to
the overall comb as to be acceptable. A whole sheet of foundation
of
wax from a treated hive would expose any retained contaminants
to
every cell; additionally the foundation gets drawn into the comb
rather than new wax being synthesized. In terms of poisons being
contained in the bees and going into synthesized wax, I would
think
these would be small even in treated colonies (the presence of
the
poison strips or whatever provide the constant gradient that
would be
most of the driving force for adsorbing into wax)- a generation
that
had never been exposed to this gradient would probably have
undetectable levels in themselves, not to mention what their
wax
glands synthesize. That is to say, if someone has treated in
the
spring, the bees in the fall (and thus next spring) should be
clean
enough to produce clean wax if done in a clean environment.
Unfortunately I know of no data adressing this.
If I have time after my boards,
I might have to draw out some plans
for my assembly-line hive idea and send them in to Barry. :)
-Don
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