Subject: Wood Preservation

From: [email-masked] (Alex Kooney)
Date: 3 Nov 1995 23:28:13 GMT

Can Thompson's Wood sealer be used on beeware.  I think it is a silicone 
based water proofing.  As far as I can tell it doesn't appear to have any 
insecticidal properties.  I don't want to use pressure treated lumber 
because of the arsenic.

I read in _Hive & Honey Bee_ that some beekeepers use a boiling lye 
solution to sterilize equipment from AFB spores.  Wouldn't chlorine 
bleach or a disinfectant like Lysol work?  Seems a bit safer.

			tim

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From: [email-masked] (BusyKnight)
Date: Sat, 04 Nov 1995 17:21:20 GMT

[email-masked] (Alex Kooney) wrote:

>Can Thompson's Wood sealer be used on beeware
I'd say yes.  But I use 'Boiled Linseed Oil.'  I've used both products
before and I think Linseed Oil is better for bee equipment. Use only
one coat if you're going to paint over it.  I coat frames, boxes and
all with Linseed Oil.  Just bee sure to allow enough time for it to
dry (it  can take two or three weeks to dry).

>solution to sterilize equipment from AFB spores.
I have a copy of this book & I'd like to know where it says that this
technique will 'sterilize' equipment from AFB.  This is not correct!
I'd like to look it up and write to the author of that section.
Neither lye or bleach will 'sterilize' the equipment against AFB. The
only way to "kill" AFB spores (at least approved in the US) is by
using ethylene oxide.  And there aren't many of these machines around.

Reference page, 1090 of the "The Hive and the Honey Bee" (1992,
revised edition). 
    I have used hot lye water to clean boxes and frames for some time
now and without any problems.  You just need to be careful, but you'd
need to be careful using hot bleach water too! (Or HOT water in
general).  Most all large grocery stores have lye; its in the section
containing 'drain openers'.  There are several brands availabe but a
common one I see is called Red Devil.  I use a large metal wash tub
over a charcole fire (in a cut in half 55-gal drum).  I heat the water
to boiling on my kitchen stove and then pour that into the wash tub.
The charcole fire may not get the water hot enough to boil but it will
keep it hot enough to clean your equipment.  Notice, I said 'clean'
the equipment, not sterilize it.  I use rubber gloves, protective 
plastic  glasses (eyes) and a bathroom toilet brush  (new,  of
course!)    :-)    Its probably not worth going to all this trouble if
you don't have a few hundred frames to clean.   Cheers....

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From: Dr David A Gladstone <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 05 Nov 1995 15:53:04 GMT

> bleach or a disinfectant like Lysol work?  Seems a bit safer.
You could write or e-mail to the manufacturer but they might not know in which case 
would you really want to go near the stuff yourself let alone expose your bees to it. 
 
Chlorine bleach would affect your breathing what makes you think that your bees would 
not be similarly affected.

I believe that Lysol is a quarternary ammonium iodide product which should be safe 
but you should check for a more authouritive answer.  

I sterilise my hives with a blow torch.  I have a spare set and so I can sterilise 
that with the torch while inspecting for damage etc.  NB keep a bucket of water handy 
because any residual wax can burst into flames.

I do not know Thompson's Wood sealer and so I cannot give a definitive answer for 
that product but you when I was faced with a similar dilema I recalled my early days 
in a food laboratory when testing for insecticides etc.  This was before the days of 
modern instrumental chemistry and we used a quick and dirty pre-screening.  We kept a 
stock of fruit flies and if they died when exposed to an extract form the sample 
under analysis this indicated a pesticide.  (the flies were kept in excellent 
conditions and were given extra rations of broth at Christmas, sometimes they got a 
small tot of rum so please dont acuse me of cruel animal experiments)

I tried the same sort of experiment when selecting a water based preservative for my 
hive.  I painted a small piece of wood and allowed it to dry for 2-3 days.  I placed 
it in a jar with about 10 fruit flies which I had captured (not as easy as it seems). 
In a second jar I set up a control with no wood.  I placed some porridge (cooked) in 
each jar and let them get on with it.  I observed them every day for about a week 
after which time I judged that it was safe to paint the spare hive.  I allowed about 
a week for the paint to dry and any fumes to evaporate before puting the bits into 
use.  

I guess that the points to look out for are (a) not to paint the hive while it is 
occupied, they try to help and will get their feet stuck!(b) to allow a week or so to 
dry and (c) test the paint on some volunteers first and a few fruit flies are cheaper 
than a hive of bees.
-- 

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 Dr David A Gladstone    EMail [email-masked]
"We dance round in a ring and suppose,
 But the Secret sits in the middle and knows."  (Robert Frost The Secret Sits.)
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