one of my two strong hives has some very old brood comb in it, almost black. I guess my two questions are: Should I be concerned about the age of the comb? and If I should replace it for sanitary reasons, how and when should I do it?
When you hold it up against the direct light, if you can see light use it. If not melt it down and sell it to yuppies as candles. :lau:
If you have swarm traps you can use it as a lure. Just don't leave it in there too long, the wax moths love it too.
Or just burn it/dump it, it has too many cocoons to make it worth rendering. Mostly cocoons less wax.
Rick
rotate it to the outside frames then replace it nd use it in a swarm trap
>Should I be concerned about the age of the comb?
IMO no.
> and If I should replace it for sanitary reasons, how and when should I do it?
When it's empty.
Thanks for the answers, I think I may have asked a version of this same question before, you won't see it a third time from me.
Quote from: Michael Bush on March 16, 2010, 11:21:25 PM
>Should I be concerned about the age of the comb?
IMO no.
I've wondered about that myself.
i have been told that wax should be replaced every 5 years to avoid pesticide and other chemical build up - i crush and strain and do cut comb, so the honey supers always have fresh wax, but the brood chamber is all old stuff.