> Question: Does anyone do this for contaminated equipment?
First, I should state that I consider all equipment to be contaminated
unless proven not to be, and know that that proof is impossible.
Going on, we did dip equipment and found it a useful way to protect
floors and lids. We never did dip frames and boxes.
Dipping boxes is practical, although handling them later results in
filthy bee suits and questionable honey house hygiene. (Bee box paint
or other coatings should be considered as something that is going to be
in the extracting environment and therefore clean and food safe).
Dipping frames is less practical, as the wax can fill grooves and also
coat the frames unless the temperature is very high. Wax coated frames
can cause other problems as well.
In my opinion, with a competent beekeeper and a good stock of
non-susceptible bees, spores in hives and on equipment like floors, lids
and boxes are of little concern. Even spores in frames and combs seem
to become less capable of infecting after the bees have raised a few
rounds of brood without breakdown.
Years ago, when I was young and naive, I read an article called "Living
with AFB" or something close. The article assumed that AFB is
everywhere and that a beekeeper should just accept the fact and learn to
manage the problem, not try to eradicate it at all costs.
That shocked me as I had previously been taught to consider AFB to be
sinful and disgraceful, and something to fight at all costs, even at the
cost of the victim hive or one's crop and livelihood. That bogeyman
approach is still around and preached widely to naive beginners.
Over time, I came to understand the mindset advocated and also
understand that fighting with an invisible and sometimes imaginary foe
can be self-destructive and wasteful, especially when we have tools that
can manage the problem with little effort or cost, but require a bit
more education and subtlety than burning everything or destroying equipment.
So, what I am saying is that wax dipping to destroy all traces of AFB is
IMO feasible, it may not be necessary or practical.
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