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Bleach for combless frame sterilization/disinfection; opinions wanted

28K views 58 replies 15 participants last post by  Acebird 
#1 ·
Hello all,
I have a ton of old used frames, mostly no comb, but a few with old comb. I plan to scrape all comb out, not using it because of unknown history. Is it possible to make them safe for reuse by dipping in bleach solution? Please input here. Thanks!
 
#38 ·
You are getting excellent advice here. Although AFB may be "rare" (as one poster put it), it certainly isn't so rare that you shouldn't consider it. Used gear is like a used car...sometimes it _was_ only driven by an old lady back and forth to church on Sundays....but there is some series of events that made them available to you, and there is simply no way of knowing....for all you know, the previous owner _started_ to clean this stuff up, and the frames with the missing combs are the ones that had visible AFB.

If irradiation is not available (I would contact the local bee club...I know that my father in law was a high school teacher in that area, and the university at Laramie had some kind of reactor for experiments at least), then I would burn them.

I believe the research out of Australia is that foundation made from AFB contaminated wax was safe (not hot enough to kill the spores, but must have physically encapsulated them well enough), and I would expect that paraffin dipping would work as well.....

...but then, as has been said, you still have some used frames (with a lot of your labor into them).

Free shipping is great if you can get it, but we can get full pallets delivered from 3 hours away for about $50, and $50 spread out over 1-2,000lbs is cheap. Look into humble abodes (which is far from you) or someplace else (closer) that is really manufacturing the stuff...I think we pay .56/frame (unassembled), and can easily fit 100 deep boxes and 1000 frames on a pallet.
 
#41 ·
Hmmm... well I can't speak for what passes for budget grade in where you are, but over here, I'd rather pay more and get frames that are not budget grade. .45 does seem rather cheap, there might be a reason for that.
 
#51 ·
:update:

I was able to track all this old equipment back to the original owner. I called him and asked him about the history of this equipment: disease, etc. He said, "Why yes, there was AFB in 3 out of those 90 hives. I treated them and it went away; I'd reuse it all if I were you." But I don't want a big risk, so I will just use the boxes, covers, and bottom boards, but I will pitch/burn the frames. Oh well, better safe than sorry.
 
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