At 02:11 PM 11/15/1999 -0500, you wrote:
>>Does anyone have any suggestions on how to clean plastic frames (Pierco)
>>that have been exposed to AFB?  Or do they all have to be burned?
>>Thanks, Pat
>>[log in to unmask]
>
>My first thoughts are is it the law in your state to burn such equipment? If
>it is not then the thought I have is to place the frames in a freezer and
>then the wax should become brittle and most of it pop off when the frame is
>flexed and scraped with a stiff brush.
>
>You may be able to use a paint brush to apply a little molten bees wax to
>encourage the reuse the frame and to help seal in any remaining spores. It
>has been reported that heating bees wax to melting will damage AFB spores
>and will prevent reinfection, I have not been able to confirm this. I would
>also use caution as heat could damage the plastic frames.
>
According to the material in the Hive and Honey Bee, it takes about 300F
degrees to kill AFB spores, which is probably hot enough to melt the
plastic.  Hot parafin has been used as a sterilizing agent and hive body
preservative in South America, but it was hot enough to do the job, and
lesser temperatures proved ineffective.  Hot lye (sodium hydroxide) solution
is effective at a lower temperature. (Many of these persistent spores coat
themselves in wax, which the lye probably attacks.)  If you can get the comb
and foundation out, and all the wax off, you may be able to thoroughly clean
the frames in a dishwasher, as ordinary thorough washing of a non-porous
material simply sends the spores down the drain, where they are inaccessible
to the bees.

AFB spores are pretty tough, and measures like moderately high temperatures,
bleach, and antiseptics that would decimate most pathogens don't affect
them, though they are immobile and subject to mechanical removal.  If you
salvage something you've got to weigh the possibility that less than 100
spores may infect a colony, and you might consider your labor.  I bought
some infected colonies last Fall, had the problem last Winter, and burned
the whole mess.

Bill Morong