Wax foundation and pests

[Swobee]

With the concerns of pests such as AFB, how can one be sure that old foundation recycled into new doesn't infect a recycled batch? I assume the wax would need to be heated to 300°F or more during reuse to kill off the AFB? It doesn't need to be heated to that temp to be made workable, so how do we know when buying foundation that it's not contaminated? With rising energy costs, I'm not sure anyone would heat a product higher than necessary to make it workable. Thoughts/ suggestions?

[nsmith1957]

I believe heating beeswax to 300 deg F would render it useless.

[riverrat]

never really thought about this I guess the possibility from getting afb from wax foundation would be there but the odds I would think would be very very minimal to actually have it happen. drifting bees and used equipment would be a bigger concern for afb. but if you are concerned I would suggest sending in your own wax to have it prossesed but then again they use the same equipment to process yours that they use for the other wax. the only option I see is to buy a foundation roller and make your own

[odfrank]

if god would have intended for man to be gay it would have been adam and steve in the garden not adam and eve!!!!!

Do we have to bring bible thumping predjudice into a discussion on beeswax? Why don't you start a board titled "Redneck Religious Rightwingers Discuss Beekeeping" You could be the moderator.

[Michael Bush]

I believe they do heat the wax to fairly high temperatures with steam which should kill a lot of AFB, and then spores that are encased in wax are probably not so much of a problem as scale in the bottom of cells of AFB infected comb. A wax encased spore is unlikely to ever "hatch". Maybe someone knows more detail on what is done to try to prevent this.

Of course, one solution is not to use foundation at all.

[Swobee]

... the only option I see is to buy a foundation roller and make your own

That's what I'm in the process of doing right now- studying the practicality of procuring one. Not hobby size mind you, but a commercial wax foundation machine. Why mess around with a toy? Be glad to do some foundation for you and any one else in the Kansas area, which is the entire USA since we're right in the middle! I had a thought that I could be helping infect our own and other's hives since we may not know the background of some of the wax that we'll process. Our boiler won't be steam, but high efficiency modulating for radiant floor heat, process hot water, etc.

[dickm]

I think the truth is something like, "heat it to 237 degrees and hold it there for 10 minutes." Since this takes special equipment, it makes it hard to do your own. The smallest mills go for about 1200 dollars and I wouldn't consider that a toy. It's still hand cranked. I made foundation with fat-beeman a couple of times. He's well experienced and it took an afternoon to make 40 sheets. They were not perfect. Ask Dons advice.

I agree about the "Gay" signature. I think it's offensive to most. It may say more about you than you think it does.

dickm

[Billy Y.]

AFB spores imbedded in foundation will cause no harm as it is generally inaccesable to the bees anyway. A colony has to be exposed to quite a lot of spore to get it actually.

Only thing I would worry about with beeswax foundation is pesticide residue.

[Jeffzhear]

AFB spores imbedded in foundation will cause no harm as it is generally inaccesable to the bees anyway. A colony has to be exposed to quite a lot of spore to get it actually.

Only thing I would worry about with beeswax foundation is pesticide residue.

I have often thought about this topic of AFB spores in Beeswax, and made a presumption that the big foundation suppliers treated the wax, which is why I stuck with them and didn't go to some of the smaller suppliers. I think I would rather stick with someone treating the wax effectively to ensure no spores are survivers under any circumstance. I want the foundation that provides the highest probability for success...

As for the Gay statement...it was offensive, but it also appears to be gone...