How do you clean a dead out?

[Ray]

Lots of dead bees head first in the comb. Shaking isn't working . Tapping on the side of the hive only breaks the comb lose (hard tapping ).  I really don't want to use a large needle and take them out one at a time!

[barry42001]

strong colony that will clean it out for you, no issue's, sounds like a starve out. assuming that is the case either put new bees in it or put it on colony that strong. But you might want to make sure that in fact it starve out.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

[riverbee]

ray, what type of foundation are you using the bees died in?

i use waxed plastic,  when i have a dead out, i tap the frame against something solid a number of times to get the majority out, and will lose a little comb if i get carried away(bees will fix that)......and yes i have used a needle to pull them out if i have too..... because i have too many boxes i keep and store to remember which box has the dead bees in it.  i don't like to store comb with dead bees in them for an extended period of time.  get's moldy.

like barry said though, a strong colony will remove dead bees, i like to get as many as i can out before storing or returning it to 'service'.

[camero7]

try an air hose, works good for me.

[Bakersdozen]

If you wait for a strong colony to clean out the frames, you best freeze them.  They will get nasty.

[Ray]

If you wait for a strong colony to clean out the frames, you best freeze them.  They will get nasty.

No problem there  :'( :'(  , Bitter cold forecast, below zero for lows and single digits for highs

[LazyBkpr]

Cant say much more to add to whats been said, except that if you bring the frames to room temp they are less prone to blowing the comb off when you rap them to get the dead bees out.
   Shake off all you can, freeze it, and exchange it for a frame in a strong hive. Just remember which hive so your not suddenly filled with dread when you see the dead bees in front of that hive a week later.
   OH NO!!!!  Oh.. wait.. whew.....

[Perry]

No problem there  :'( :'(  , Bitter cold forecast, below zero for lows and single digits for highs

I'm starting to think Michigan might just be in Canada! 

Lazy, I can't tell you how many times I've done something similar. 

[Ray]

RB- they were on wood frames and small cell wax, except for the outside two that were drone cell plastic.

Lazy - thanks but room temperature isn't room temperature, until the price of propane drops significantly

[LazyBkpr]

Lazy - thanks but room temperature isn't room temperature, until the price of propane drops significantly

  Jeez I cant argue with that!!!!

[riverbee]

"RB- they were on wood frames and small cell wax, except for the outside two that were drone cell plastic.

Lazy - thanks but room temperature isn't room temperature, until the price of propane drops significantly"

i hear ya on the propane prices, yikes!  just do the best you can, like lazy said if the frames are warmed a little, the bees come out a little easier. if you need store the frames, if your temps are like ours right now, they won't be thawing anytime soon.  when i have a winter dead out, i do the best i can to close up the hive, and then move to an outside storage facility.  i do the best i can to remove the dead bees before warm weather sets in, then when it starts to warm up, i'll go back through and look at each frame again, to remove the bees. you won't be able to get every single one unless you want to pick at them with a needle.  you still don't want to whack plastic wax drawn foundation too hard in cold weather, it can be brittle.  gee how do i know that.....

[Ray]

I'm starting to think Michigan might just be in Canada! 
 
I'm starting to think Michigan is in Siberia!
I need to stop whining it's a whole lot warmer here, than some of you NORTHERN beeks have it