BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER > EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS

bleach solution

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mark:
any of you guys ever use bleach solution to sanitize frames or bodies? i'm wondering if its use would bother the bees.

mark

Robo:
Mark,

I have never used it for cleaning, because it is not all that effective at penetrating deep into the wood.  But it won't bother the bees, especially if you let it dry before giving it to them.  

In fact, I use to put bleach in the water that I provided for the bees.  Not only did it keep algae down, but it seemed to attrack the bees.

beefree:
the commercial beekeeper i got my bees from uses a couple glugs of bleach in several gallons of water to clean his bottom boards in the spring each year... brush with stiff brush (not bee brush), scrape with hive tool if necessary, spilll on the water and scrub off.  i have new hive so i haven't tried it myself.
beefree

steve:
Bleach will kill wax worm larva and eggs if left on long enough BUT it has not effect on AFB spores,
                                 Steve

chemistbert:
Keep in mind that bleach is a water based chemical. It will not penetrate propolis of wax without very long soaking time. I would think it very ineffective at doing anything but surface sterilization.

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