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 [log in to unmask]