When we consider hygiene, it is worth bearing in mind the activities of the bees in maintaining their own healthy environment. The hive is essentially a clean place and worker bees are very industrious little cleaners, constantly licking surfaces. Small amounts of hydrogen peroxide, an antiseptic, are produced by the breakdown of glucose by the enzyme glucose oxidase from the bees’ hypo-pharyngeal glands, this gets into the saliva of the bees and so into the general hive environment.

The second really important substance is propolis. Yes, I know, it’s sticky and messy and hard to clean off ourselves and our equipment, but it is a very important substance, which is antibacterial, antifungal and probably antiviral as well. The more work that is done on propolis, the more we recognise its importance and we should be pleased if our bees are liberal propolis users, as mine are.

So the bees are pretty good but how can we help them? Why should we help them? The answer to this is that we are keeping them in an artificial situation where their normal precautions are probably not adequate. Inside our hives a burden of pathogens builds up and this adds to the stress the bees suffer and makes them more prone to get sick.
There are three components to a hive:

• The boxes
• The frames
• The comb

All of these need to be cleaned at intervals.

The Boxes

The brood box needs to be taken out of use periodically. The time interval varies and some beekeepers do this every year, others do it every three years or so. Put the frames in a clean box and clean the old one by scraping well and then singeing with a blow torch. We’ll come back to this.

The Frames

Brood frames may be stripped of their old wax and scraped well, then cleaned thoroughly in very, very hot washing soda solution. Alternatively, quite a few beekeepers have reached the conclusion that frames are better burned and replaced. It is really a question of whether time is more important than money and whether you have access to a boiler of some sort for cleaning them. Again, how long you keep them is a personal decision.

The Comb

Old comb is a repository for pathogens and chemicals. The latter (particularly Varroa treatments), are often soluble in wax and other oils. It needs to be replaced at least every three years in my opinion, but many beekeepers, especially those in disease hotspots, replace it all every year. Clearly, if you are not recycling frames, the whole lot can be burned, but otherwise the wax can be stripped out and burned. This is a much better solution than trying to salvage a bit of grubby wax out of them.

Fumigating With Ethanoic (Acetic) Acid

We saw earlier that boxes could be sterilized by scorching with a blowtorch and this is the method used by Bee Inspectors when treating disease outbreaks, but it is not possible to singe frames and certainly not combs, so there is another method which can be used. The frames and boxes must be well scraped clean first then fumigated by stacking up boxes, with their frames, and putting a pad or dish containing 150ml of 80% ethanoic acid on top of the frames. A number of boxes can be stacked together but must be sealed up. I use wheelie bin liners to enclose them.

The acid attacks metal, concrete and humans, so take care where it is all put (outside) and protect yourself with gloves and goggles. Avoid breathing the fumes. Leave the stack for one week then dismantle, dispose of the pads and air the equipment well. This can work well for relatively new comb, which is in good condition.

Winter is a good time to make a start on cleaning those boxes which are lurking in the bee shed. Then next spring they are ready to have their new foundation in ready for the Bailey comb changes or shook swarms. Keeping everything clean will really benefit your bees and result in better, healthier colonies.
Happy scraping!

Celia Davis