QE cleaning

[REDWOOD]

What do you use to clean wire QE ?

 

[Outlander]

I use my wife to clean mine.

 

[Poly Hive]

Frost.

Wait for the right weather.

PH

 

[REDWOOD]

I use my wife to clean mine.

 

[smithhive]

Frost.

Wait for the right weather.

PH

Yep, choose a morning after a severe frost. I lay two pieces of timber, about a foot apart, on a wheel barrow and rest an end of each Q E on these timbers whilst scraping the thickest of the wax off with a hive tool. The Q E are held in a vertical plane and both sides are scraped so most of the wax falls straight into the barrow and all scraping is done down the line of the wires. Some thin slices of wax remain between the wires but they can be gently and carefully chipped out with the edge of a thin hive tool.

I remove Q E either just before or just after the heather move but leave them above the open holed crown board for a day or two to allow the bees to remove any traces of honey prior to the Q E going into store. Cleaning them is a right pain but much less so if you only have dry wax to deal with.

 

[REDWOOD]

Frost.

Wait for the right weather.

PH

Understand, thanks

 

[PBee]

Blowlamp.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Boil them in water with a bit of bleach.

 

[richardbees]

PH is right -I leave everything that needs cleaning fully exposed to the weather (and blue tits) until February. It's then easy to clean - including getting wax out of those grooves in frames.

 

[oliver90owner]

Outlander,

I agree with GRUMPY and you're all REPORTED!

Youv'e changed it! Take care (Last Activity: Today 05:32 AM
), he's watching you!

RAB

 

[REDWOOD]

where is he

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

PH is right -I leave everything fully exposed to the weather (and blue tits) .

it happens when you expose them in freezing conditions! try a nice woolen vest

 

[Tim1606]

For those that want to clean plastic QE's.
Get a square plastic tray from the garden center, similar to the ones used for putting grow bags in. Soda crystals and hot water and a good scrub and they come up like new.

 

[mbc]

PH is right -I leave everything that needs cleaning fully exposed to the weather (and blue tits) until February. It's then easy to clean - including getting wax out of those grooves in frames.

A recipe for shortening the usefull life of equipment, I think PH was advising letting the temperature make the wax brittle rather than exposing softwood to weather for months on end, as Jenkins alluded to, exposing your bits to the weather can harm them