Is flame the only effective way of sterilising secondhand equipment, or will something nasy and volatile, ie paraffin, petrol, creosote, etc. kill off EFB/AFB?
In our state, the bee inspector has access to an ethylene oxide chamber in which beekeeping equipment can be sterilized. Ethylene oxide does make some plastics more brittle if you have Pierco frames. Contact your local bee inspector to see if your state has such a sterilizer.
Some beekeepers boil equipment in water with lye added. I've done it a couple times. In my thinking, very little is worth the work and the danger of this. A splatter can blind you, or burn your skin badly.
Dave
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