[Bryan]

I have purchased a few hundred old supers with frames which have been unused for many years have old comb and spider webs dirt etc. Will boiling the old frames in a barrel of water kill off any potential disease organisms ? (I understand boiling for 10 minutes will kill most things).
Thanks for any insight.

Bryan

 

[Michael Bush]

Boiling will not kill AFB spores, but I'm not sure anything will. Some people add lye to help with killing the spores. I have not tried the lye.

I would just boil them, unless you have reason to suspect AFB. If you think there was AFB involved the standard practice is to burn them.

 

[Iowabeeman]

Boil for ten minutes in lye water. Use one container of lye per 15 gallons of water. We always buy Red Devil lye at the grocery store. Each container has 18 oz of lye. Punch the wax out of your frames first or you get quite a mess in your barrel. we had a bad outbreak of foul brood a few years ago. We boiled everything in lye water and haven't had any more trouble.

 

[odfrank]

Boiling and renovating old frames is five times as much work as nailing new ones and you still end up with old frames.