[log in to unmask] asked about cleaning up a deadout.

Replies have been posted based on what the author would do in their neck of
the woods, based on their own practices and beliefs.  One thing about
beekeeping is that any beekeeper can and will do as they see fit.

I agree with all the responses that advise that the first action is to
properly diagnose what caused the hives' demise.  For a beginning beekeeper
this is easier said than done.  For a seasoned beekeeper the proper
diagnosis can still be a SWAG.  The beekeeper who advised that there is no
room for scientific wild assed guessing is very conservative, presumably has
lots of time and money to buy and assemble new frames, and dismisses that
value of drawn comb.  But the advice to assume the worst, burn and scorch
everything and start over from scratch certainly assures a clean start.
However, such a policy certainly will destroy a lot of good equipment
needlessly and could hold back a beekeeper that may be trying to increase
their operation.

I agree with those who have advised that the first order of business is to
rule out American Foul Brood (AFB) as a suspect.  Burning and scorching
certainly will do that.  Irradiation will also.  Neither is required or
advised by this beekeeper unless and until AFB has positively been
identified as the culprit.  If AFB is not involved, burning, scorching and
irradiation is an unwarranted waste of good equipment, time, expense and a
missed opportunity to learn valuable lessons in a beekeeping career.  The
first lesson is how to diagnose AFB in a deadout.  I'm not going to cover
that here other than to suggest some options such as get a text book, or
surf to a competent web site (MAAREC for instance), request help from a
nearby seasoned beekeeper (if you can find one), join a local beekeeping
association, call an apiary inspector (if your state has an inspection
program), do a Holst milk test, buy one of Dr. Max's new diagnostic kits, or
send samples to the Beltsville Bee Lab.  Or yes, burn or irradiate without
determining if that is even necessary.  If AFB is the culprit, burning or
irradiating will solve that problem, and if AFB is NOT the culprit, well, it
won't be the culprit after you've burned or irradiated.

Another pathogen that can cross over from a deadout to a restocked hive is
Nosema.  Again, burning or irradiation will address a problem that may or
may not be present.  Or one can learn to diagnose nosema in a deadout (same
options as with AFB) and if present fumigate with acidic acid following the
procedures given in any competent text on the topic.

If transferable pathogens have been ruled out, the next step (if you haven't
burned or if you intend to irradiate) is to clean out the dead bees as well
as you are able as soon as you are able.  "As soon as you are able" means as
soon as you can get to the deadout in your area.  No excuses.  Nature
doesn't accept excuses.  If a deadout sits there with masses of dead bees,
the bees will start to decompose, rot, and propagate nasties that can cause
more problems, worse problems down the road.  If the dead out sits there
because the beekeeper has very good reasons not to get around to cleaning it
up, the biological processes that are going on are not going to make a
judgment call like, "Bea Keeper has to take her son to soccer practice
today, I'll hold off and start rotting tomorrow because Bea is busy, I like
her and she deserves a break today."  Clean out your deadouts as soon as you
are able, as best as you are able.

Well, what does "as best as you are able" mean?  Go through the hive, frame
by frame and remove as many of the bees as are easily removed.  A bee brush
will remove a lot of the bees.  A hand whiskbroom may be a better tool.  If
the bees are clumped and decomposition has already begun, a hive tool is
still stronger than the clump of bees and will remove if from the comb.  The
individual bees that are stuck in individual cells can be left alone.  One
could pick each bee out using a pair of tweezers, but I mention this only to
be thorough.  I would never attempt such a task, and the practice might do
more harm than good.  Understanding the biology of decomposition in
important in the Zen of cleaning deadouts.  The decomposition of a single
bee is far different than the decomposition of a large mass of bees.  The
decomposition of a single bee remains low key, and relatively confined to
the body of the bee, whereas a mass of decomposing bees reaches a mass far
greater than the sum of the parts.  A mass of decomposing bees will actually
create heat, not a lot of heat, but heat that a single bee will not.  A mass
of rotting bees will support mold and other nasty biological growths that a
single bee will not.  A mass of decomposing bees can be easily removed by
the beekeeper (especially if removed early on in the process) whereas
removing individual bees from individual cells, although possible, would be
a tedious task bordering absurdity if one values one's time.  And, the
individual bees in individual cells will be removed easily and quickly by
bees if/when the hive is restocked.

The original author mentioned mold.  If mold has developed in the deadout,
the beekeeper took too long to clean it up.  This is not me making a
judgment call on the skills of the beekeeper involved, this is nature doing
what nature does, regardless of the beekeeper's schedule.  I have never seen
mold stand up to a strong spray of water or direct sunlight.  A combination
of the two can recover comb that many would deem too far gone to salvage.

A spring deadout is an unfortunate event in a beekeeper's world, but it can
also be an opportunity.  The opportunity can be to learn better disease
diagnostic skills.  The opportunity can be to clean up equipment in a manner
and level that is not possible when the hive is occupies with bees.  As the
combs are cleared of the corpses, take the opportunity to evaluate the
condition of the comb.  Is it new or old?  Is it straight?  Does it have a
lot of drone cells?  Is it worth saving or has it perhaps gone beyond its
life expectancy?  Has it been exposed to a lot of mite treatments?  Be
conservative in these evaluations.  A deadout offers an opportunity to cycle
out old combs that may contribute to BAD or SAD bees.  And if the comb is a
keeper, take the opportunity to scrape the propolis from the spacer tabs
between the frames.  The reward will be a frame configuration that is less
cramped, that will be easier and more pleasant to work when the hive is
repopulated.

A word about the advice to store the combs with moth crystals: the advice
came from Alabama, where wax moths are (I believe) a year-round concern.
Where I keep bees (upstate New York), we do not worry about wax moth before
mid-June at the earliest.  Those that use moth crystals should not confuse
moth crystals (PDB) with moth balls (naphthalene), which are two entirely
different products.  And some opine, and researchers are discovering and
recommending that even PDB has no place in beekeeping.  Although PDB has
been recommended for years, modern detection technology has verified that
combs treated with PDB yield honey with PDB residues.  This is not a
judgment call on the skills of beekeepers that use or advise the use of PDB,
it's just the natural data that modern science has revealed.  The best
control of wax moth is provided by a large healthy population of bees.

In summary, address your deadouts as soon as you are able, as well as you
are able.  Clean them out as soon as is humanly possible.  Nature accepts no
excuses.  Diagnose as quickly and competently as possible the cause of the
hive's demise.  If transferable pathogens are the cause, address the
transferable pathogens.  Fire is certain, but irradiation and/or fumigation
can also be effective.  And once the deadout has been diagnosed, treated (if
necessary), and cleaned to the best of the beekeeper's ability, restock it
with bees and work to build them up and keep them healthy.  It has been my
experience that bees do a better job of maintaining combs than do
beekeepers.

Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee!

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