At 10:02 AM 3/17/02 -0800, you wrote:
>Will the bees clean these combs up
>and repair them or should I cut the comb out and put
>new clean foundation in? Also, what about the frames,
>should I boil them in lye water (as I heard someone
>recommend) or is that not needed?


It really depends on how badly the combs are damaged.
Light to moderate damage you can simply just reuse, the
bees will clean it.  Moderate to heavy and you're probably
better off scraping the frame and giving them new foundation.
Is there enough structure left to maintain the integrity of
the comb when placed in the extractor?

Generally all you have to do to the worst stuff is scrape and
replace the foundation (unless you have plastic foundation
which won't need replaced).  The wax moth (i assume) is
dead, if not put the frames in a freezer for a couple of days.
Boiling or other treatment is not needed unless you are
concerned about other pests lingering such as AFB.

-Tim