>Now if a chemist BEE-l member believes otherwise please comment and I will
>inform the health department. I looked through some Federal & state honey
>processing facility guidelines and all say to use a clorox (bleach) and
>water mix to disinfect but none give a ratio.
Being a chemist, I'll bite but this is more of a biologist's turf than a chemist's. For water purification a capful in a gallon is fine, but I would be reluctant to use that for "pathogens" or organisms that are not "waterborne". 1:9 will definitely kill anything it comes in contact with, the concerns are with complete coverage in a old hive. Wax and propolis will prevent the water solution from penetrating the wood as well as the ability for the bleach solution to penetrate cracks and crevises. So, there just isn't an easy answer to this question. acetic acid fumigation would probably fair better in that regard, but then it may or may not kill everything. Sorry I can't be more definitive... Mark
***********************************************
The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
Guidelines for posting to BEE-L can be found at:
http://honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm