How to clean old brood boxes and frames

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andyroberts07

New Bee
Joined
Apr 22, 2010
Messages
28
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0
Location
Oxfordshire
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
7
Hi Everyone

Can you help, i have some old brood boxes that i want to use with frames in them, what is the best way to clean them for re-use.

Is scrapping the old wax and propolis off and then scorching them with a blow tourch, enough???

or are there other ways????

Some help will be most appriciated. AR
 
Sodium hydroxide - (Caustic soda) dip for the frames (works best if heated in an old Burco boiler)then rinse off with water.
A blow torch for the box's.
 
thankyou for the reply Admin, were can i get an old burco boiler from? and how much are they.
while we are on thesubject, whats the best way to clean crown boards, floors and queen exculders. AR
 
These are second hand? If so a comprehensive scorching, after scraping, for the brood boxes. Scrap the frames.

If you know the history then maybe do as Admin says, or use washing soda instead, as that is a little safer for use. Hot (or even cold) caustic soda solution can be quite hazardous, and I would not recommend that unless you take all the safety aspects very seriously, or are experienced with using chemicals.

To be honest, cleaning frames of doubtful provenance is not something I would do. Frames are cheap (80p a throw for 14 x 12 Nationals in the sales). For a few, the time, effort and cost makes cleaning them pretty marginal.

And, welcome to the forum.

Regards, RAB
 
Dont throw them away if you`ve got an open fire as old frames make great firelighters with all that old wax on.
 
If you have a frame steamer you can recover the wax and get the frames clean at the same time. Even if all the wax has been cut out, enough remains in the side bars to help cover the cost of electricity.
 

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