I just had to euthanize a colony for being overly aggressive. Neighbors got stung. Vacuumed the bees, placed the whole box into my upright freezer. Froze them and the brood frames. (FOURTEEN frames of brood. And this from two combined swarms.)
Question: What?s the best way to dispose of these frames of dead brood? Just wanted to be sure that If I place them into my other hives, they will be cleaned up and put to use.
I usually put previously frozen drone comb out for the birds. But these brood frames have some honey in them and I fear if I put them out, I?ll cause robbing. I live in an urban setting with backyards fairly close to each other so MY backyard is the only place I can put these frames out if I choose to. Thanks.
Where we are in summer heat it would be big burden for a hive to handle a frame of brood to fish out without letting the SHB into it.
I would scrape the frame as clean as I can + hose it off, then let the bees build again... unless its under 70 degrees and the SHB eggs can't hatch.
Quote from: FloridaGardener on July 12, 2022, 02:54:49 PM
Where we are in summer heat it would be big burden for a hive to handle a frame of brood to fish out without letting the SHB into it.
I would scrape the frame as clean as I can + hose it off, then let the bees build again... unless its under 70 degrees and the SHB eggs can't hatch.
Thanks. Good point and I was thinking of doing that. Also no small hive beetles here to speak of here.
A good strong hive can clear, clean, and polish 1 big gross frame of dead brood in 2-3 days. Put in the middle of the broodiest, right in the heart, right in their way. If you put it up above or aside, it will take longer and may be ignored completely until that space is needed. So, you could cycle them in just not all at once, put in the right place, and be aware of the workload added and timeline between adding more.
Quote from: TheHoneyPump on July 12, 2022, 04:09:33 PM
A good strong hive can clear, clean, and polish 1 big gross frame of dead brood in 2-3 days. Put in the middle of the broodiest, right in the heart, right in their way. If you put it up above or aside, it will take longer and may be ignored completely until that space is needed. So, you could cycle them in just not all at once, put in the right place, and be aware of the workload added and timeline between adding more.
Thank you. I gotta get a pressure washer.