Have A 20 year old hive, How Do I make It Safe For New Bees

[Jen]

I have a newbee friend that has brought home a complete empty 20 year old hive, she wants to know how to get it up and running for bees this year. This is the question I posed on our bee club site: 

"Posing a question and need advice: I brought home this complete hive a couple of days ago. It hasn't been used in approx 20 years. The hive box and wooden frames are in good condition. What do I need to do to get this hive up and running for new bees this year? Need to consider pathogens, insects and preditors that may have come in contact with this hive."

With your answers I will copy and paste onto the post for her and many others to read. She is not interested at this time to join a forum. Thanks!

[Perry]

Me personally?
I would burn all the frames and comb, get rid of it. I would scorch the hive boxes, inner and outer covers and bottom board if it is in good shape. Far too risky to try and salvage that comb, a lot of which doesn't look great to begin with.

[rober]

ditto what perry said. sometimes I clean the comb out of old frames, scorch them &  rubber band comb into them when doing cutouts.

[Bakersdozen]

It's risky to use wooden ware and frames with an unknown history.  There is a risk of European Foulbrood and American Foulbrood.  There could be pesticides built up in the comb.  Remember we have seen some very harsh chemicals over the last 50 years that are now banned. It might be fun to decorate and display.  I don't know if you can pass foulbrood spores by handling contaminated equipment.  Maybe someone on this forum can answer that.

[riverbee]

hi jen, i'm with perry, rober, and bakers12.........

what perry said.....
"Me personally?
I would burn all the frames and comb, get rid of it. I would scorch the hive boxes, inner and outer covers and bottom board if it is in good shape. Far too risky to try and salvage that comb, a lot of which doesn't look great to begin with."

your first pic on here tells a 'story', and it doesn't look good. as far as the picture of the box.......it's junk. (20 years of unknown what?)
20 years of history on these frames and a box with a great deal of unknown.
we have so many challenges jen, you know that.

"What do I need to do to get this hive up and running for new bees this year?"",

not on these frames or in this box........i just think, to give bees a chance  she need's to start with 'fresh' equipment.  i wouldn't use this stuff, and i hope she didn't pay too much money for it.

[Les]

Certainly not an expert but that looks just plain old nasty, I wouldn't put bees in there at all.  I too would be concerned about the foul broods.

[Bakersdozen]

Oops!  I read 50 years, not 20 years.  Still doesn't change my opinion.
An old saying is "Ask 5 beekeepers a question and you will get 6 answers."  Well, this is unanimous!  I love Les' "plain old nasty" comment. 

[apisbees]

There are more risks to using old equipment But that being said there are ways to reduce the risks. Bleach disinfects wooden ware. If it was me I scrap the wax off the plastic foundation. Then I would soak the frames in a tote with bleach water for a few hours, then scrub the remaining wax off the foundation. Rewax the foundation and use the equipment.

In BC we have some other tools at our disposal there is a company Iotron that  provides Sterilization of bee equipment. It cost $5.00 a super with frames and it kills all pathogens.

http://iotron.com/industries/food-agriculture/
In the apicultural sector, beekeepers require disease free hives in order for their bees to thrive, reproduce and manufacture honey. Sometimes it becomes necessary to disinfect all beehives in an area. Iotron provides a solution for today’s bee colony problems. Iotron’s treatment program provides Apiculturist’s a cost effective and environmentally friendly solution for managing common beehive contaminants. Iotron’s Electron Beam irradiation treatment is proven effective for eliminating American foulbrood (AFB), Chalkbrood and Nosema from comb, pollen, and wax. Irradiation is the most effective method of disinfecting comb contaminated with N. ceranae.

Iotron’s treatment method penetrates through materials in a similar manner to an X-Ray, yielding superior results and does not leave any residues behind. The Iotron treatment allows beekeepers to reduce the need for antibiotics and other interventions. Iotron’s Electron Beam irradiation treatment program is an advanced integrated pest management (IPM) tool for working on today’s complex issues. We will help you decontaminate your hives so that your bees can flourish.

https://www.richmondbeekeepers.ca/iotron-sterilization/

[Jen]

Hi Apis, thanks for chiming in  When you say bleach water, what would those measurements be. Please use cooking measurments like 1/2 tsp to one gallon water ~~~

Love the Iotron method! Sadly, it will prob take 20 years for Calif to allow that 

[apisbees]

Chemical sterilisation with disinfectants.
Brood boxes, supers and other beekeeping equipment can be effectively sterilised using disinfectants containing hypochlorite. Sodium hypochlorite is present at a concentration of about 3% in household bleach. Research has shown that immersion for twenty minutes in a solution of 0.5% sodium hypochlorite kills AFB spores and other bacteria. In this case you therefore need to make a solution of one part household bleach to five parts water. It is essential that the spores are in contact with the solution, so any items immersed must be thoroughly cleaned. For disinfecting one or two boxes, a suitable tray could be used and each box wall treated individually, before rotating to treat the respective walls. For larger quantities of equipment, a deeper trough will be needed. Laboratory studies conducted at the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) suggest that other chemical disinfectants may be useful for general sterilisation, but further tests are required to ensure these are effective against foulbrood infection, especially AFB spores.

More information on disinfecting equipment
www.nationalbeeunit.com/downloadDocument.cfm?id=711

[riverbee]

what happened to the pix?

[riverbee]

the pictures went MIA through some trouble with post image..... whatever. jen sent me the pix to repost from her 1st post on this thread. (thanks jen!)

anyway, jen, what if any update on this equipment that your friend purchased, what was the decision made, to use or not?

"I have a newbee friend that has brought home a complete empty 20 year old hive, she wants to know how to get it up and running for bees this year. This is the question I posed on our bee club site:

"Posing a question and need advice: I brought home this complete hive a couple of days ago. It hasn't been used in approx 20 years. The hive box and wooden frames are in good condition. What do I need to do to get this hive up and running for new bees this year? Need to consider pathogens, insects and preditors that may have come in contact with this hive."

With your answers I will copy and paste onto the post for her and many others to read. She is not interested at this time to join a forum. Thanks!"