reuseing old frames/cleaning

[jallen]

hi all as before got a secoundhnad set up have thrown out the old wax but is it ok to reuse the old frames and what method is best for cleaning

thanks again
joe

 

[johna]

Put them in a plastic bin bag with some glacial acetic acid .Seal the bag and leave for at least 2 weeks before opening them up.Take care as Glacial Acetic Acid is nasty stuff and will corrode skin.Wash the frames after treatment and hang up somewhere to thoroughly dry before re-waxing.

 

[jallen]

sounds like it would be easyer to just buy new ones

 

[thurrock bees]

i soak them in castic soda for 24 hrs then soak in water, once dry scrape off old bit of wax and they are good as new, ive got frames that i have done this to 3 times now

 

[jallen]

hanks ill give it a go

 

[Finman]

.
If the amount is small, scrab the surface and burn the surface or over open fire.

You cannot clean old frames with ice acetic.

If frames are 100 or somehing. Boiling with 3% lye is good.

 

[Vergilius]

Soda crystals.

Ben P

 

[chrismcd]

Personally, I use formalin solution.

A good disinfectant and easy to buy from Animal Health shops.

I use it to fumigate hives and frames using a similar technique to that described earlier.

Also it does wonders for my greenhouse in the winter.

 

[Finman]

Personally, I use formalin solution.

A good disinfectant and easy to buy from Animal Health shops.

I use it to fumigate hives and frames using a similar technique to that described earlier.

Also it does wonders for my greenhouse in the winter.

that is good. I have never met this before.

 

[Arfermo]

Get hold of a Burco boiler if you can find one on the local freecycle site and half fill with water and a good dosh of washing soda. Rinse thoroughly in clean water after. Comes up like new after a few minutes. Somebody on this site in another thread said to use caustic soda. Don't know what the difference id and don't care - modus operandi is the same.

 

[Finno]

Before using old frames, be certain of their AFB status and if in any doubt, then burn them!.

 

[Hombre]

. . . Somebody on this site in another thread said to use caustic soda. Don't know what the difference id and don't care - modus operandi is the same.

Make the same concentration of washing soda/water and caustic soda/water and you can probably get away with sticking your hand in the washing soda briefly, but the caustic soda is likely to seriously burn your skin. You obviously don't think it irresponsible to be blatantly unaware of the difference?

And might you be advising newbees next year perhaps and when asked a similar question, you trot out caustic soda as the answer and some poor ignorant sod suffers for your indifference perhaps?

Washing soda is caustic, but caustic soda is extremely caustic. Just remember that indifference is not a defence in a court of law when faced with a charge of negligence.

Of course it won't come to that, but it doesn't harm you to avoid any problems by caring just a bit.

 

[BobH1]

Get hold of a Burco boiler if you can find one on the local freecycle site and half fill with water and a good dosh of washing soda. Rinse thoroughly in clean water after. Comes up like new after a few minutes. Somebody on this site in another thread said to use caustic soda. Don't know what the difference id and don't care - modus operandi is the same.

Washing Soda: Sodium Bicarbonate: Na2CO3: a degreaser and disolver of wax.
Caustic Soda: Sodium Hydroxide: NaOH: a more aggressive chemical (as one authority says: it doesn't attack bone, it just removes the flesh).

 

[Moggs]

A relative of mine was seriously burned with caustic soda, then used as a cleaning agent. As you say, this stuff can be extremely corrosive and probably dangerous in the wrong hands.

 

[For want of a better word]

Alkali compounds such as washing soda, caustic soda and lye, all form acompound with fats and greases to form a soluable soap, that will dissolve in water........

wont't go further as this is a beekeeping forum not a chemistry lesson,
However interesting aside!!!

 

[oliver90owner]

Think 'oven cleaner' with caustic soda. Heated, it will be even more aggressive.

It is used for all sorts of duties. I used to use it to dissolve cement (Portland types) a long time ago.

Let's face it any chemical can be dangerous in the wrong hands/circumstances.

Washing soda is not Sodium Bicarbonate. It is Di-Sodium Carbonate. Commonly referred to as Sodium Carbonate (as there isn't a 'mono' version). Sodium bicarbonate is much less aggressive and is actually Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate, found in things like 'Andrews Liver Salts' etc., so we can drink a solution of the stuff! (burp).

Just to add a bit extra - washing soda is the hydrated version of sodium carbonate (10 molecules of water attached, I think) and soda ash is the same chemical but with no water of crystallisation.

A bit more complicated, like oxalic acid and hydrate, but a fairly basic group of compounds to a chemist.

Remember: Even dihydrogen monoxide can be fatal in the wrong conditions, but we all use it, mostly without regard to it's danger, for all of our lives.

Regards, RAB

 

[BobH1]

Washing soda is not Sodium Bicarbonate[/U]. It is Di-Sodium Carbonate. Commonly referred to as Sodium Carbonate (as there isn't a 'mono' version).

You're right, sorry I was misleading/wrong.

 

[Finman]

.
This issue has been handled many times in this forum, but again, old frame "cleaning can be fatal in wrong hands"

But what is more danderous is to burn old frames. No one havs said that "the whole village may burn down if you make a fire out"

Our mothers "boiled white loundry" with lye 50 years ago. Okay, 300-400 years ago gastrate singers were popular. They balls were sunken into lye and what a feresh voice it gove.

This beek tryed to boil used frames what what really happened

douple click the box[/B]!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeL-G4oX06Q&feature=related[/ame]

 

[Finman]

..

This is better, douple click
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFuUpwpa6JU[/ame]

 

[Hombre]

You may think that he has no balls, but wow, he is good. I never saw him previously. Thanks Finman.
If you watch this stuff, does it make you a Castronaught?

It's Castrate, not Gastrate by the way. That might suggest that he was related to a slug and that's not nice. No vain space in his vocal range then . . .