Using and Waxing Plastic Frames

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I have done a short video on using and waxing plastic frames.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrQ7bmjJcVE[/ame]

I need to find the time to re-shoot it as the sound and continuity are all over the place but videos on waxing plastic frames seem a bit thin on the ground so I hope this is better than nothing.
 
wax frames

That'd bee (sic) the beauty of wax frames - just melt old ones down and restart! no scorching needed!

I'm starting to get ideas for next years Honey Show!
 
That'd bee (sic) the beauty of wax frames - just melt old ones down and restart! no scorching needed!

I'm starting to get ideas for next years Honey Show!

Is there any pollution when destroyed by bee inspctor after AFB?
 
wax frames

"Is there any pollution when destroyed by bee inspector after AFB?"

Just bag 'em up and chuck on the bonfire - job done.
 
"Is there any pollution when destroyed by bee inspector after AFB?"

Just bag 'em up and chuck on the bonfire - job done.


Can you burn plastic? Is it legal to burn plastic, I thought it gave off toxins?
 
Wax frames

I was talking TIC about my hypothetical ALL WAX frames NOT the plastic ones featured in the YT Video clip.

The plastic ones can presumably also be autoclaved?
 
The plastic ones can presumably also be autoclaved?[/QUOTE]

Oh dear another bit of kit to buy??? Not sure there's room in the shed for that so I WILL need my beeroom after all!
By the way, I'm thinking of buying a double stable for my new Beeroom. Processing one side to comply with H&S and dry storage for the woodwork the other
 
I doubt you could make a complete frame out of wax. In the temperature of the brood chamber they would simply sag as wax at ambient temeratures is not a solid but a super-cooled liquid. People often report wax foundation sagging and a top bar of wax would certainly go the same way. Traditional extraction would also be fun unless the frame was used for cut comb.

Nicotplast make a plastic frame which actually has cells molded into it. The cells are about half depth and the bees draw out the rest and these frames are used un-waxed. Unfortunately, they are only available in Dadant Blatt sizes so I haven't tried them.

The issues over sterilisation etc are something that needs to be addressed in the UK with both plastic frames and plastic hives. As whole countries in Europe have more or less gone over to plastic hives and plastic frames are also becoming more popular around the world the evidence is these issues can certainly be overcome but the UK as ever lags behind it is approach.

Steam will not kill AFB spores but the frames could be dipped in strong bleach or caustic soda after steam cleaning and that would certainly do the job.
 
The issues over sterilisation etc are something that needs to be addressed in the UK with both plastic frames and plastic hives. As whole countries in Europe have more or less gone over to plastic hives and plastic frames are also becoming more popular around the world the evidence is these issues can certainly be overcome but the UK as ever lags behind it is approach.

I agree it does,and if frames don't need to be destroyed then the BDI would become even more of a waste of time....as there would be nothing that you could claim for anyway,except perhaps a bit of honey if the diseased colony had any.
 
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I thought this is covered from the NBU in the advisory leaflet (see https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/beebase/downloadDocument.cfm?id=7).
Quote - "Brood boxes, supers, queen excluders and other
bee-keeping equipment, which has been
thoroughly cleaned, of all wax and propolis can
be effectively sterilized by using commercial
disinfectants (e.g. bleach, Virkon S and others). It
is important that the manufacturer’s instructions
are complied with"
. End Quote

I think the wording in this area could be a bit clearer, as the preceding paragraph states:
Quote "There are no chemicals that have been shown to
be fully effective for the sterilisation of stored
combs against foul brood."
End Quote

The above statement refers to comb and not equipment.

So I conclude:
Should you be unfortunate enough to get EFB or AFB in any of you colonies and you are using Plastic frames, then you remove the wax from the frames and destroy the wax by burning and you sterilise the frames using one of the commercial bleaches as per manufacturers instructions.

This is my interpretation of the adivisory leaflet.
 
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The issues over sterilisation etc are something that needs to be addressed in the UK with both plastic frames and plastic hives. As whole countries in Europe have more or less gone over to plastic hives and plastic frames are also becoming more popular around the world the evidence is these issues can certainly be overcome but the UK as ever lags behind it is approach.
 
So I conclude:
Should you be unfortunate enough to get EFB or AFB in any of you colonies and you are using Plastic frames, then you remove the wax from the frames and destroy the wax by burning and you sterilise the frames using one of the commercial bleaches as per manufacturers instructions.


I agree,this is how it appears,and all this work has to be done by the bee inspector for free....as opposed to just chucking all the frames in a pit and setting light to the lot.
 
I suppose then if we are to get up to speed with the rest of Europe the bee inspectors will need a bigger van to carry the extra kit around with them.
 
I suppose then if we are to get up to speed with the rest of Europe the bee inspectors will need a bigger van to carry the extra kit around with them.

Don't think we will be getting up to speed with the rest of Europe any time soon by the sounds of it. Yes the plastic frames could be sterilised,but the bee inspector would insist on them being taken away and incinerated at the bee keepers expense,unless only a very few frames.
 
but the bee inspector would insist on them being taken away and incinerated at the bee keepers expense,unless only a very few frames.

Why? British legislation prohibits this under the 1980 Bees Act:
Quote
"Prohibition on removal
4.—(1) Where notification has been given under article 3(1), the owner or person in charge of
the hive shall not remove, or permit to be removed, from the premises or vehicle on or in which
the hive is situated—
(a) any hive, bees, combs, bee products, bee pests, hive debris or appliances; or
(b) any other thing liable to spread the notifiable disease or the notifiable pest.
End Quote

So the remedy to the situation would have to be done 'in-situ' should it be by fire or chemicals.

Does anyone on the forum know of a real life instance in the UK where a form of Foul Brood has been found with poly/plastic hives or other equipment?

If so, what was the action taken?

Is there a bee Inspector on the forum who can comment?

So, do we have to keep up with our European neighbours? From what I can see, legislation is already in place to cover the poly/plastic equipment. Perhaps it is the beekeepers (myself included) that are behind (dons tin hat). :)
 
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I was talking on the telephone with Richard Ball,just previous to making the above post......so this is straight from him about what they would require to be done.
 

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