What to do with old and mouldy foundation

[BeeOnMyWay]

I suspect there's a one-word answer to this question, but I'm a novice so please bear with me. When foundation is old and full of dead larvae and pollen and capped stores AND is a bit mouldy, is there any point in recycling the wax? Can it be used to make new foundation? And if so, is it a case of melting it down and sieving it? Example as shown (see picture). In the cold weather I lost a colony housed in a borrowed and rather decrepid five-frame nuc. It was borrowed so I want to do the right thing.
Andy
Diary Of A Nervous Beekeeper

 

[Moggs]

Hi BoMW. Wax is wax. Looking at your pic, I would say that it looks pretty good stuff. And look at those stores! Why reclaim it anyway? The bees will make use of it. If it's from a known good source of course. Though the frame does look as if it could do with cleaning which may rightly affect your decision. How old is it?

 

[Dishmop]

I seem to remember that vinegar or lemon or something like that shouldget rid of a light covering of mould like that. Looks as if it got damp...

My novice eye cant see much wrong with the comb and whats in it tho, but I would say that general opinion might be that you didnt give it to another colony.....

 

[MuswellMetro]

Get a big saucepan, cut up all they wax to inch blocks and put it into half a suaucepan of water with a tablespoon of lemon juice ( must be acidic otherwise you make soap

slowly warm up until all the wax melts and them let cool in the fridge

throw away all water and scap off the majority of the crud under the solid wax

Repeat, inch block of wax in water and lemon jiuce

let it cool, and you should have a circle of wax

sell it to local furniture restorers, make candle, beewax polish anthing but trade it in UNLESS you have enough kilos of the stuff

you might as well play with it

 

[Moggs]

BoMW (and Dishmop) - a better inspection of your pic has changed my view in more ways than one. Mould = spores, and there are a lot of them on there. Ignore my earlier advice as the hasty ramblings that they are.

 

[oliver90owner]

It might be used - but only if I knew it's provenance and there was no chance of infecting other bees with pathogens.

I would not be making that recommendation here as it is not my comb, and not my bees.

Are those dead bess in the cells adjacent to the pollen? Which way in would be a pointer. There are a lot of larvae on a pollen frame? Sounds a little dodgy to me.

So not worth the risk for you. Do as MM says. Foundation is cheaper than a new colony.

And the other frames? are they in a similar state?

Regards, RAB

 

[hedgerow pete]

go to the frame with a knief cut every thing out , scrap the frame spotlessly clean and whats you are left with either stick in a mesh bag ( old tights) and then get the biggest saucepan in the shed and stuff the bag in the bottom with a brick on top to keep it out of the way and add a tea spood of bleach to every 5 gallons of water, boil the day lights out of it a trade it in for some new foundation.

cut it all out and then freeze it to kill the mould and when you own a solar melter or a bigger sauce pan then defreeze and melt.

due to the wife threatening to cut parts of me the once i am religated to the allotment shed with either an old preasure cook pot or the old stew pan i brought at a car boot sale, but i have now gone technical and i have an old sieve that i have cut the handle off, the brick holds it down. after the wax has risen to the top i skim it of and dump it into an old ice cream tub,

the tea spoon of bleach helps to lighten the wax colour and to help with the mould.

either way get a roll of cling film and wrap the day lights out of the frames or the wax moth will find it and after it has munced your old frames it will start on your other hives

 

[Hombre]

Hmmmmm. I have to disagree with you Pete. When using water to melt wax, it should be acidic to stop saponification, turning some of it into soap. Lemon juice or spirit vinegar

I think that for lightening the wax the lemon juice might do it (?) or by bubbling hydrogen peroxide through the molten wax - keep it away from flame as it's an oxidant and if your bee shed goes up in smoke they will link you with some of your corriander growing allotment neighbours, put two and two together and come up with some bizzare reason for locking you all up for a while . . . Sequins, bees and HP source everywhere . . . . Boom!

 

[drstitson]

rather a lot of brood for early jan!

why not chop away the bad bottom half of the comb and keep the capped stores bit aside for spring feeding - bruise cappings and place above crownboard?

 

[BeeOnMyWay]

If anything this frame is one of the better ones. I really appreciate all the advice.
The stores were built up by another (stronger) colony sited right next to the nuc (just to the right in the picture). The nuc and frames, as I say, were borrowed so I didn't want to risk offending the owner by throwing away perfectly good foundation. The state of the nuc has already been commented upon by various experienced local beekeepers so I'm making the owner a new one by way of a thank you.
I'm inclined to cut out the bad areas on the frame shown (leaving the good stores), and to transfer that back into the main colony (from whence it came). Then I'll boil the worst of the foundation as per your various instructions. Sound like a intelligent plan?
PS Yes, the bees shown on the frame were all frozen solid.
Andy
Diary Of A Nervous Beekeeper

 

[drstitson]

i'm surprised they made it into winter in that nuc!!!!!

 

[Heather]

Just cut out all wax- dump it- don't waste your time trying to reduce for fresh wax- will end up with a thimbleful of decent resalable.
Scrape the frame clear of all residual wax- then scrub clean with hot water and a sprinkle of bleach. Boil if you have the facility.

Given a good Spring they will soon bring in replacement pollen.