murder in the village

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Hachi

Queen Bee
Joined
Mar 28, 2012
Messages
2,373
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619
Location
Wiltshire
Hive Type
Commercial
Number of Hives
Damn! A lot more than I ever thought I'd have
Did some extracting in the kitchen. Bees wax & propolis deposits on the relatively new tiled floor and Snr mngt not happy. If I suddenly stop posting, send search party, there will have been a murder.

How do you get the wax and propolis off the tiles?

I've tried steam cleaning - ha! don't make me laugh.
I thought about getting a can of that freeze stuff that plumbers use to freeze pipes before the under the pipe to stop it flooding hoping I can chip it off.
Spend days on my knees scrapping it off.

What ideas have you got for a condemned man please?
 
I just sit on a stool after washing the floor with cold water and bleach, knife in hand scraping up the bits I've stepped on, never seem to get propolis on the floor though, just wax and only in a small area betwixt uncapping tray and extractor
 
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Did some extracting in the kitchen. Bees wax & propolis deposits on the relatively new tiled floor and Snr mngt not happy. If I suddenly stop posting, send search party, there will have been a murder.

How do you get the wax and propolis off the tiles?

I've tried steam cleaning - ha! don't make me laugh.
I thought about getting a can of that freeze stuff that plumbers use to freeze pipes before the under the pipe to stop it flooding hoping I can chip it off.
Spend days on my knees scrapping it off.

What ideas have you got for a condemned man please?
Isopropyl Alcohol?
 
I just sit on a stool after washing the floor with cold water and bleach, knife in hand scraping up the bits I've stetted on, never seem to get propolis on the floor though, just wax and only in a small area betwixt uncapping tray and extractor

I'm amazed how it has spread Emyr but SWMBO says its wax etc and... well you must know the look, it was oft commented on by compo when talking about the beautiful Nora :oops:
 
I'm amazed how it has spread Emyr but SWMBO says its wax etc and... well you must know the look, it was oft commented on by compo when talking about the beautiful Nora :oops:
Luckily SWMBO has taken a real aversion to being anywhere near the extraction operation ( Not liking the strong smell of honey, and severe reactions to bee stings had a part to play) It usually means she spends long hours in work and a takeaway for dinner, but a bit awkward due to lockdown and home working, so........ she has a friend in Cardiff, spare en suite bedroom and no family over here, she is now in SWMBO's 'bubble' so a long weekend away and by the time she comes home, everything is back to normal.
 
Soda cleaning crystals & a little bleach in cold water.
If you value your life next time put a bit of polythene down or a dust sheet.
 
Soda cleaning crystals & a little bleach in cold water.
If you value your life next time put a bit of polythene down or a dust sheet.

I thought brown paper? I could get a roll of linoleum .................
 
When I built my honey room I laid a resin floor for easy cleaning. I spent an hour yesterday scraping wax off it with a hive tool then a kitchen scourer! I was going to overlay it this year to "freshen it up" but no resin will stick with wax residue on it. I think I'll have to prepare it with a angle grinder!!
 
For heavens sake don't add anything to spread it about. I always leave a mess but then it's my kitchen. Just a sharp small knife and scrape. Time consuming but effective
 
soda crystals, very hot water, rubber gloves, scratchy side of a washing up sponge. thats the only way to get propolis off in my book.
 
Soda cleaning crystals & a little bleach in cold water.
If you value your life next time put a bit of polythene down or a dust sheet.
+1

Cardboard over floor.
Then wash floor with mop and soda solution.(COLD not warm as it melts wax and smears)
Then take a paper stripping knife and hands and knees scrape and into container..

No divorce yet (working on it...:love: )
 
Feel a bit bit like an extra from Last of the Summer Wine here - but keeps head beekeeper happy - Newspaper on the floor and stay on it!
 
Did some extracting in the kitchen. Bees wax & propolis deposits on the relatively new tiled floor and Snr mngt not happy. If I suddenly stop posting, send search party, there will have been a murder.

How do you get the wax and propolis off the tiles?

I've tried steam cleaning - ha! don't make me laugh.
I thought about getting a can of that freeze stuff that plumbers use to freeze pipes before the under the pipe to stop it flooding hoping I can chip it off.
Spend days on my knees scrapping it off.

What ideas have you got for a condemned man please?
I use the flat edge of a hive tool to get lumps of wax and propolis off the floor, before washing and mopping. People say it must be 'lovely' dealing with all the honey. My reply is always NO it isn't!
 
warm the spots with a blow torch, low setting, (I take it your tiles are ceramic or stone?) wipe off with a paper towel then a good wash down with a strong solution of water, bleach and soda crystal. Oh! and some scraping (and scraping and bowing to your OH)
 
Soda cleaning crystals & a little bleach in cold water.
If you value your life next time put a bit of polythene down or a dust sheet.

Shutting the door after the horse had bolted but that is the best advice ... or cardboard is good and absorbent... poly with cardboard on top may preserve life and avoid divorce. My worst case was when I kicked a honey bucket over whilst extracting ... about two cup full escaped and despite my best cleaning efforts I was accused of the 'sticky' floor months after the event. I found a strong solution of washing soda in hot water with a bit of washing up liquid or sugar soap in it is best for clean up ..., but prevention is better than cure ...
 
Not sure I agree with the cold water ... the wax may melt in hot water but if you buff the tiles with a dry cloth after cleaning and rinsing it leaves a nice shine on the tiles ...you need the hot water to sort the honey and propolis ...

But ..., anything is worth trying... in your hour of need any port in a storm !
 
How do you get the wax and propolis off the tiles?
Don't get it on the floor in the first place. I cover the floor with a 60 y/o natural linen bed-sheet that my wife's grandmother gave us when she had to go into a care-home. Still have a spare and other dustsheets I use for decorating. If you redecorate and protect your floors and furniture, then extracting is virtually the same imho?
 
I can remember my mum getting the wax off the church carpet using newspaper and a hot iron.
Place newspapers over the wax, heat from the iron melts the wax which is then absorbed by the newspaper
 
I cover the floor with a 60 y/o natural linen bed-sheet that my wife's grandmother gave us when she had to go into a care-home.
It's not that long ago that SWMBO turfed out my old dustsheets -they were the bedsheets that my great grandmother put on the bed for my grandparent's wedding night in the late 1920's, and they weren't new then, having been used for many years by my great grandmother for laying out the recently deceased. I still have the embroidered sheet she used to put on the corpse until the coffin was made though.
 

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