# Preparing old hives for use



## Mary in Minnesota (Jan 7, 2003)

I have some old hives that I used years ago that I would like to put in service again. I have removed the remaining old mouse-eaten combs and scraped off most of the old wax and propolis. Is there anything else I should do besides installing new foundation? Do I need to flame the frames and boxes or otherwise disinfect them? 

The frames are dusty/dirty. Should I order new frames for the supers to keep the honey clean?

Thanks for your answers.


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## renee7 (Mar 15, 2003)

Mary, if you know how to use lye, (you have to be very careful with it) Use rubber gloves and eye protection. and keep some apple cider vinegar handy, it case a drop gets on you)

My dad used to use old hives, as well as old frames. he would get a 50 gal drum, and put Lye in the water, then dip the boxes, as well as the frames in it. If you just need to disenfect the frames, probably a 5 gal bucket would do.

But they were really clean before he even did that. I've seen him set for hours, with his pocket knife and srape every bit of the wax, or rot or anything off


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

Scrape throughly with your hive tool...then shellac every interior surface with Bullseye Shellac two coats.....those cheap throwaway sponge brushes work great. The bees really like the smooth interior surface. Learned this from a bee inspector. Old dirty frames just aren't worth the time cleaning...they aren't that high dollar. Always good if you knew the beekeeper and whether he had problems with disease though. DH uses 30 year old used equipment with no problems using this method. DEE


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## Mike in Ohio (Oct 29, 2002)

If it is your woodenware and there wasn't any disease when you stored it then you shouldn't need to use lye.

Just take a scraper to the boxes and clean them well. Paint the outside. I don't like putting anything on the inside as the pourous wood helps with controlling humidity.

Sometimes I clean frames and sometimes I don't. If you are cleaning frames, remove the top bar and just push the whole foundation into a large box. If it isn't too bad you can always melt it down. I use split bottom bars and can clean about a frame a minute.

Mike


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## justgojumpit (May 5, 2003)

has anyone thought about pressure washing instead of scraping? I wonder if that would work for some of the heavier equipment, like boxes, bottom boards, and lids...

justgojumpit


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