I was thinking. I am doing this beekeeping the Chem free way but I have trouble when storing comb when the season is done. Wax moths and hive beetles have taken their toll.
I want to keep the moths and beetles out without using wax moth crystals as they are just another chemical. I have left them in the open, staggered for air flow and light, but that ended in disaster. So I started brain storming........ and I keep coming back to the idea of a oxygen depleted environment.
1. I could freeze them, but I don't have a huge freezer to keep them i until spring and it costs money to run the freezer.
2. I could go to one of those bedding stores and buy bags to vacuum pack them which lowers the pressure and creates an oxygen deprived environment not to mention the problems the bugs would have the whole differential pressure of oxygen issue. But those bags are pricey and not very sturdy.
3. I thought to get some of those silicon baking sheets to use as gaskets and fill a stack of supers with an inert gas like nitrogen or Carbon Dioxide (think dry ice). A ratchet strap should keep it snuggly sealed. But the baking sheets are not cheap, and becomes cost prohibitive.
4. I could wrap a stack of supers in that plastic wrap, like stuff that you see in airports, that should make a pretty good seal. Then place a small bees wax candle inside in a metal cupcake pan (I can already hear folks slapping their foreheads) and use it to deplete the oxygen. Or I could replace the candle with dry ice (CO2). I think that the plastic wrap should keep the CO2 in and oxygen out for the duration of a seasons storage, but what about moisture and mold.
I know that I rambled a bit, but feel free to throw you comment in the pot. And Yes, I have considered the roman candle scenario if the candle lights the comb.
I want to keep the moths and beetles out without using wax moth crystals as they are just another chemical. I have left them in the open, staggered for air flow and light, but that ended in disaster. So I started brain storming........ and I keep coming back to the idea of a oxygen depleted environment.
1. I could freeze them, but I don't have a huge freezer to keep them i until spring and it costs money to run the freezer.
2. I could go to one of those bedding stores and buy bags to vacuum pack them which lowers the pressure and creates an oxygen deprived environment not to mention the problems the bugs would have the whole differential pressure of oxygen issue. But those bags are pricey and not very sturdy.
3. I thought to get some of those silicon baking sheets to use as gaskets and fill a stack of supers with an inert gas like nitrogen or Carbon Dioxide (think dry ice). A ratchet strap should keep it snuggly sealed. But the baking sheets are not cheap, and becomes cost prohibitive.
4. I could wrap a stack of supers in that plastic wrap, like stuff that you see in airports, that should make a pretty good seal. Then place a small bees wax candle inside in a metal cupcake pan (I can already hear folks slapping their foreheads) and use it to deplete the oxygen. Or I could replace the candle with dry ice (CO2). I think that the plastic wrap should keep the CO2 in and oxygen out for the duration of a seasons storage, but what about moisture and mold.
I know that I rambled a bit, but feel free to throw you comment in the pot. And Yes, I have considered the roman candle scenario if the candle lights the comb.
