> One of my beekeeping friends which had the AFB problem I wrote about in
> spring posts has been  washing down boxes, lids and bottoms with the bleach
> solution instead of burning or scorching.  In a unheated area the solution
> stays wet for much longer than the twenty minutes required BUT does it
> penetrate enough?

That is what I am wondering.  Seems to me that contact with sodium hypochlorite
is not doing the job, but rather the chlorine gas which is released.  If so,
then we basically are dealing with fumigation, not wetting, and have to ask how
well chlorine penetrates propolis and wax.  I notice that the article at
http://listserv.albany.edu:8080/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9911C&L=bee-l&P=R1868
says that 0.5% solution does the trick.

I quote:
> Research conducted at Ruakura has shown that concentrations of 0.5%
> sodium hypochlorite in water will kill all AFB spores in 20 minutes.

As bleach is purchased here in Canada at almost any grocery store, the
concentration is 5.25%, so the article is talking about ordinary bleach cut 10:1
with water.

Hmmmm.

allen