Well several years back >15 my grandad used to have a respectable colony
of old style traditional "hives" (cylinders made from mud and hay) that
produced an excellent "variety" of honey. While later we introduced
the classic hives I left in 1981 for the US leaving behind the colony.
I have been back from the US since May and I found the remnants of disaster
in all the hives. Relatives have informed me that during my absence while
they took care of the hives disease struck in a most unnatural way. Almost
all colonies in the island have been wiped out. Only a few survived. The
disease is supposedly imported. Some beekeepers were able to rebuild
and now have strong colonies. Our equipment though stayed unused. I would
like to start over again but I am faced with a dillema.
 
All hives are in bad shape. Disease has eaten away all the wax materia
inside (and in some occasions wood)
the hives and a lot of remnants are inside. What I noticed is that some
dead flies are inside cocoons (sp) which usually are attached to wood or
sometimes placed in holes made for them in the wood. All kinds of remains
are inside the hives. Can I salvage these equipment and not pass the disease
on to the new colony? How? Any way of disinfecting??
 
The irony is that approx. 15 days after I arrived I discovered that
one of the old style "hives" was indeed alive certainly anewcomer
since no bees were seen there for years.
 
Any help in identifying the disease or ways to salvage equipment will
be ap
Thanks
 
Andreas
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