Second-hand hives

[lilymarlene]

I bought a second -hand hive at an auction this weekend. After I had bought it another bidder informed me that it had had foul brood disease. She said it was a long time ago, and that it would be OK to use it now if I flamed it. Is that true? Is there an easier way to ensure it is safe?

I also bought another with a full set of frames but no history of disease. The frames are a bit rickety. I feel sure though that I can use them with a bit of effort at cleaning them. I have scraped off the old wax and taken a note of where repairs are needed. Is it enough to give these a good wash?

Thanks for any replies. I tried the search box but it seemed to bring up a lot of irrelevant stuff.

 

[Baggyone]

Scorch the box by all means and that "should" be ok. Burn the frames.

 

[Tom Bick]

Was it the person you out bid by any chance?

Was it the now ex owner of the hive?

How does she have history of this hive as it was said a long time ago?

If it was the first question then you did her on the price and she is a bad looser.

If it is the 2nd question and she never made this known at the auction then that is bad beekeeping, by suggesting it will be all right when scorched suggests to me that the hive has not been disinfected fully and as a result if not and sent to the auction in that state is not good to say the least and perhaps put other equipment and hives at risk.

If it was me and you can contact the organisers or if it was an association then do that and mention what you have been told you can also contact the bee inspectors they will be very helpful and give you good advice.

If it was the case that it is correct and it had a foul brood in it and it was fully disinfected at the time and you now fully disinfect / scorch it again it will perhaps be ok but do you want to take the risk.

 

[lilymarlene]

Thanks for that reply.
She wasn't the owner. She bid for the next one from the same place and got it. She said she had been told by one of the experienced beekeepers about the history of the hives (I think there were 5 there from the same seller) and he had said it was along time ago, and that they should be scorched. So I presume that it was known at the sale to the powers that be and that they were happy to tell anyone that asked.
So I think I will go with your last suggestion thanks and hope for the best.
Apparently we don't get Foul Brood disease here on the Isle of Wight. The one case of it (this one) was from a nucleus (or Queen) from the mainland. Since then they advise us not to buy from the mainland but from within the island.