Cleaning and Eating from A Nosema Infected Hive

[MrBeeMan]

Hi All.
Just a quick question about my hive. I lost my hive over winter to Nosema and I was wondering about the best way to clean it and also can I eat the capped honey if I uncap it and take it out?
Also what is the best way for me to get the comb out and can I melt it etc. Thank you very much.

 

[Finman]

To feed nosema food to another hive is not good idea. The value of food as sugar is almost nothing.
To use combs means risk too, that you loose next hive. It depends, how well new hive is able to resist nosema.

 

[Roola]

To feed nosema food to another hive is not good idea. The value of food as sugar is almost nothing.
To use combs means risk too, that you loose next hive. It depends, how well new hive is able to resist nosema.

Finman, I think they were were referring to them eating the honey, not other bees.

 

[Finman]

.
Oh yes.... A beekeeper eate the honey..... Ofcouse he can cut pieces of comb but...

 

[MuswellMetro]

Hi All.
Just a quick question about my hive. I lost my hive over winter to Nosema and I was wondering about the best way to clean it and also can I eat the capped honey if I uncap it and take it out?
Also what is the best way for me to get the comb out and can I melt it etc. Thank you very much.

i scrap, scrub with bleach then lighlty blow torcht the inside ( also surface of any landing boards/hive stand etc)

for your own use i would scrap it out the honey into a bowl them heat it to 47c, let it cool and scrap the wax of the top , but reember beeswax has a low ignition point

 

[djg]

But I scrap the honey, too.

i scrap, scrub with bleach then lighlty blow torcht the inside ( also surface of any landing boards/hive stand etc)

for your own use i would scrap it out the honey into a bowl them heat it to 47c, let it cool and scrap the wax of the top , but reember beeswax has a low ignition point

 

[MrBeeMan]

Thanks....

:

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Decent comb can be fumigated with 80% acetic acid which kills nosema spores.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Hi All.
Just a quick question about my hive. I lost my hive over winter to Nosema and I was wondering about the best way to clean it and also can I eat the capped honey if I uncap it and take it out?
Also what is the best way for me to get the comb out and can I melt it etc. Thank you very much.

Isn't "some" Nosema present in most hives? It's only when it gets out of hand that the effects become problematic. Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

 

[Cussword]

I thought that it was safe for your own consumption.

 

[Thymallus]

It is. Unless you have a rare disorder that allows you to make medical history as the first human nosema patient.

As for the combs, they are cheap (in comparison to bees) I'd scrap them and the frames....bonfire the lot....as not worth the effort.
Blowtorch the rest, qx may be problematic if plastic type.

 

[Thymallus]

Isn't "some" Nosema present in most hives? It's only when it gets out of hand that the effects become problematic. Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Nope you aren't, you can usually find the occasional nosema spore in any sample of healthy bees. As a disease it tends to take off when bees are unhealthy and more susceptible. But it isn't a good idea to expose healthy bees to high levels of spores on infected comb etc.

 

[ugcheleuce]

I lost my hive over winter to Nosema and... also can I eat the capped honey if I uncap it and take it out?

As others have said, yes: nosema does nothing for humans. You can also safely eat honey from a hive that died from e.g. foulbrood.