From: Pav <bobhog@pin.co.nz>
Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 11:49:35 +1200
To: BiologicalBeekeeping@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: shakedown

Hi Folk

At 8/10/01 22:18:00, Dee wrote:
>...Sustained hot underwater bath with pressing
>wax in double burlap sacks was suggested
>as another course of action.
>...Putting into a solar wax melter is definitely not enough.

Dee has previously indicated that low temperature heating will deactivate AFB spores if it
is applied for long enough, compared to extreme temperatures for short periods of time.

Years ago at conference i saw a graph by some of our boffins relating to temp/time
relationship required to do this. They were intending to illustrate that at 160 deg C (a
high temperature indeed, but relatively easily attained with hot parraffin dipping) at least
10 minutes (jeez, i hope i remember that right!) were required.

It makes sense that higher temperatures require less time, lower temperatures require
more, looking at the total heat energy going in (heat=temp x time), and i guess this is
why your long, slow heat works.

Following on from this i wondered about the temperatures attainable in a solar wax-
melter, and whether gear cooked in one for sufficient number of hot days might not in fact
be okay after all. Given your underwater-bath never passes 100 deg C anyway, well-
made solar melters are not going to be much cooler on a really good day.

I guess i shall dutifully trudge off to the archives to once again find out how long and at
what temperature you process your diseased wax, but my question comes down to this:

Does anyone have DATA on the temp/time relationship to deactivate AFB spores (going
right down to 70 deg C, or so)? And also does anyone have data on the temperatures
(typical/maximum) recorded from good solar wax melters (the old fridge (therefore
insulated) with double glazed door and big enough to take entire supers of frames
sounds pretty darn good to me)? How hot can we really get them?

-Pav, reckons a good sterilisation in the solar from time to time may be good prophylaxis
anyway.