Cleaning up old frames | Honeycomb | Beekeeping

In this video we are cleaning up some of our older frames. We had just removed them from the freezer in order to kill off an pests and bacteria and now are collecting the comb in a bin to be processed.
We will process this comb using the steam wax melter we made: • Steam beeswax melter |...
Here is a link to the steamer we used in the build:
amzn.to/2YAWjGC
Remember beekeeping is local, our videos outline what work for us and are not intended to be a prescription for your bee colonies. Although these concepts are generally endorsed by many beekeepers you have to listen, watch, and learn from your bees.
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[@zeowolf6785]

Thank you so much this video was so much help

[@BohemiaBees]

Awesome 👏🏻 glad it helped. Appreciate the comment

[@anthonyvangelos978]

Question: Why not leave the comb on and let the bees clean in up?

[@BohemiaBees]

+Anthony Vangelos because some comb is built wild or turned into drone comb so as we cycle out those frames we freeze and clean up the comb to allow bees to reuse the frame and/or foundation

[@juliebarnett9812]

Thank you.

[@benca6151]

And that may be why you only have one comment. I agree with freezing them. I can understand if you have a market for the wax. But I think you would be better off giving this back to the bees with out damaging all their hard work so they can fill it back up with nectar, pollen and brood. Just my 2 cents. What works for one bee keeper won't work for the next one.

[@BohemiaBees]

While I appreciate your comment, the lack of comments are not my unit of measurement of a good video or beekeeping technique.
We only scrape wax when it’s needed to help bees start off with a fresh frame of foundation. Due to a larger area of drone comb or perhaps it had wax moth damage from a dead out.
There are multiple reasons why, and this video is just to show an easy way to do it.
It’s what works for us, it’s not a prescription for every beekeeper.

[@eddevault4604]

Good content Mr Bohemia beeman….I did not know the bees would reconstruct the frames from just a good scrape down with added wax….I have always tried to clean them to perfection aka: new plastic foundation type…..which is almost impossible even with a pressure washer…I’ll try your method -see if they accept it….Thanks…

[@raydeese8859]

Just a suggestion. 5” drywall finishing knife. Thanks for the video

[@BohemiaBees]

Ah yes that would work also.

[@DoubleTopHoneyCo]

Why not just drop your frames directly into a pot of boiling water instead of scraping and scraping. Boiling it with clean everything off in seconds. You spent most of the video scraping one frame. Too time consuming. just my way and faster.

[@BohemiaBees]

Many ways to skin a cat … thanks for the perspective

[@lisadhom262]

Hot water is very helpful to separate old black comb from foundation but exposure to boiling water can warp and ruin foundation very quickly. Rapid dipping 2 or 3 times and a little patience to let the heat work its magic and the comb will often lift off.

[@jamesgardenbees]

Great info, what's the next step? Do you clean the foundations and re-use? How?

[@BohemiaBees]

I believe I mentioned it but I’ll re-coat the foundation with wax and reuse them again for the bees to clean and rebuild new wax comb.

[@jamesgardenbees]

@@BohemiaBees Thanks for that. Do you wash off the old pollen & casings before you wax?

[@BohemiaBees]

No after I scrape it I let the bees clean up the rest

[@jenesetucker7309]

Thank you for your video! This may sound like a silly question, but I was wondering whether this cleaning technique could be done with comb that's been built on the plain wooden frames with wax comb starter sheets, or if it's better to detach the old sheets and start over with new wax sheets. What do you think?

[@BohemiaBees]

Great question. While I’m concept it would work the only issue would be the foundation may be brittle when it comes out of freezer so you may do more damage then to the foundation than you want. But it could be a technique that helps break the old foundation and comb from the wires and then the bees could use the wire structure to rebuild all new comb.

[@jenesetucker7309]

@@BohemiaBees Thank you!!!

[@Yourekiddingmeright]

Question, where did you get that hive tool? Thank you.
Bee Safe as always, V.

[@BohemiaBees]

I found that a few years back. I’ll have to check where I can get another one.

[@bradgoliphant]

Have you ever tried cleaning up a hive with bees in it? My hive has gotten really dirty on two sides and was wondering what was safe. I was thinking just water and dish soap, keeping the towel pretty dry. Any ideas?

[@BohemiaBees]

Not sure I understand what you mean “cleaning a hive with bees in it” why would it be “dirty”

[@scotthenderson4376]

I did a cut out of a dead out that had some honey on top and put it in a cooler. How should I clean it ? Was hoping to use it for swarm traps

[@BohemiaBees]

If the comb is full of honey you can press it using a screen bag to get honey out then render the wax. If it’s empty old comb you can just render it you use as wax to roll on new foundation. You could try to frame it up for use in a swarm trap but that may be difficult. You shouldn’t use any comb that’s wet or full of honey/pollen in a swarm trap. Hope that helps.

[@clothespindolls]

thank you very helpful

[@BohemiaBees]

Glad you found it helpful. I appreciate the support

[@76okpeople]

Can I break up the wax cone first, and then freeze it, since my freezer is really small

[@BohemiaBees]

This technique is really used to clean wax comb off plastic foundation. Unless you are looking to kill off any pests in the foundation-less comb before melting then I guess freezing would still be a good practice.

[@lonnieellis727]

Thank you just what I wanted to see

[@BohemiaBees]

Great. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@katewagner4351]

Is the black foundation plastic or wax?

[@BohemiaBees]

The black foundation is plastic. The black color allows the beekeeper to see eggs in the frames when doing inspections

[@corinnekoladay4392]

Thank you for sharing

[@BohemiaBees]

Thank you fir watching and commenting

[@kerihess6689]

When you put them in the freezer, what do you put them in? I'm trying to figure out how to keep things clean and not sure how to keep my frames from getting moldy.

[@BohemiaBees]

We use a dedicated box freezer for our frames. But some beekeepers put them in a trash bag before putting in home freezer.

[@falcongaming3019]

do you have a video about removing wax moth webbing?

[@BohemiaBees]

It’s an older video and doesn’t go into too much detail on the exact clean up. But if the comb is webbed it pretty much destroyed.
Wax moth hive cleanup
th-cam.com/video/nfRfOFJ4jdc/w-d-xo.html

[@suzannekuhner5432]

Bees

[@BohemiaBees]

+Suzanne Kuhner yes!