I treated two deep boxes, 2 shallow supers and an outer cover with moth crystals for the winter. I set them outside to air out this afternoon.
How long should I let them breath before trying to use them on the hive?
In particular I'm anxious to use one of the deep boxes to cover a pail feeder.
Thanks.
They say 24 hours to air out.
I have read that two weeks should be sufficient to rid the woodenware of any potential for harming honey bees.
I'd heard that it's not chemical harm or toxicity that is the concern, but the smell that makes the bees stay away.
Anyone know the "truth" on this?
Was it paramoth or some other version with para dichloro benzene? Or was it Napthenate? If it's Napthenate, they are ruined. If it was PDB it should clear fairly quickly, but it's more of a half life kind of thing. In other words it will never really clear but will clear the most the first 24 hours, about half that much the next ect.
Was paramoth.
Thanks, Michael.
I'm giving them 4-5 days just o be sure.
It may be a moot point though as my hive looks week and we are slated to drop back into the 30s tomorrow.
I stored about a dozen frames of drawn comb with PDB, but have been airing them out for a week or so - they smell okay to me, but I'm not a bee. Two questions
(1) A few frames contain last year's pollen and a few square inches of capped honey - should I use these frames on the assumption that if the bees can use it, they will and if they can't, they'll just clean it out?
(2) If I'm installing packages, should I
a. Install packages on drawn, hopefully-sufficiently-aired-out comb?
b. Install some packages on said comb, some on foundation?
c. Install all packages on combinations of foundation and comb?
Again, I THINK this stuff has been sufficientlly aired, but I'm nervous...