Wayne reminded us that the FDA-recommended concentration of bleach for sanitizing food preparation tools and surfaces is 1 tsp per gallon, substantially lower than the 1:10 ratio recommended in the ABJ article.  In partial defense of the higher concentration, the FDA standard is set with two critical assumptions, neither of which can be easily met in the environment of used beekeeping equipment.
 
First, the FDA standard assumes that the equipment is already free of any visible debris - you can't claim to be sanitizing the spoon until you've at least got all the dried tomato sauce off it.  Beekeeping equipment, on the other hand, comes to us with propolis and wax stuck everywhere.  Scraping and other mechanical cleaning may remove some debris but much will still be on the equipment.  Soap and water do next to nothing.  And given the nature of propolis, much of the infectious material may be buried under a thin surface layer, subject to reexposure whenever the deposit is disturbed.  Bleach is effective at dissolving propolis, allowing significantly greater physical removal of debris.  The concentration needed will depend on the trade-offs you want to make with time and elbow-grease.  (My preferred concentration is a healthy splash (1/3 cup?) per gallon.)
 
Second (and probably far less significant), the FDA standard specifies temperatures between 120 and 173 F, easily achievable in any decent kitchen but not available in the average beeyard.  My hypothesis is that the higher concentration will partially compensate for the lost sanitizing effects of lower temperature water.
 
Of course, I have no hard data to back up my opinion nor can I defend the specific 1:10 ratio recommended in the ABJ article.  But I don't think the far lower FDA standard necessarily applies to our situation either.

The other part of the question was time to air out the equipment.  Again, the FDA standard primarily envisions smooth, fairly open metal equipment and working surfaces which will dry quickly.  Porous materials like wood frames or combs should be expected to take longer.  That said, I've put equipment back on the hive very quickly after cleaning it (usually because I procrastinated until I was desperate).  It's fully dried but not specially "aired out".  I have seen no ill effects from my haste, nor have I ever detected any residue either by smell or taste.
 
Mike Rossander
  - thinking there's too much anecdote in this response and wishing we had more hard data...


      

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