Old Moldy Equipment.

[Frantz]

I got some old boxes from a guy that lives by my brother. I will get some pics, but it looks like they had bees in them that died over the winter and were never cleaned out. They have a ring of moldy yucky stuff in them. Should I just trash them. They seem to be older frames with good comb, and they are wired in well. Will they ever be usable? Or does the mold make they forever tainted?? Do I need to burn anything that had come in contact with them? My Brother brought them over and stacked some of them on my other boxes in my garage. I worry about the mold spores etc having spread into my other frames of drawn comb etc. There also seems to be some little white larve living in the moldy mess. As I said I will get some pictures if that helps to ID the ugly stuff. But it is mostly perfect rings of mold in the frames. Some just small 2-3 inches or so, others the whole frame is covered with the moldy gunk.
Let me know.
Frantz

[Bill W.]

I went through this with a bunch of old gear I got earlier this year.  The mold is not a big deal - the bees will clean it out.  But, I would be more worried about what killed the bees and what diseases are in there.  I kept all the boxes and frames and I kept some of the comb that appeared to be clean and fully empty, but I got rid of the rest.

[Brian D. Bray]

I got some old boxes from a guy that lives by my brother. I will get some pics, but it looks like they had bees in them that died over the winter and were never cleaned out. They have a ring of moldy yucky stuff in them.

The bees will clean out the mold, but if it's on the inside of the hive body you could torch it off.

Should I just trash them. They seem to be older frames with good comb, and they are wired in well. Will they ever be usable? Or does the mold make they forever tainted?? Do I need to burn anything that had come in contact with them?

Unless there is evidence of dead brood in the comb it should be okay.  Look for scales in the brood cells, holes in capped brood cells, or uncapped brood cells.  If you find any of that it is best to burn the lot.

My Brother brought them over and stacked some of them on my other boxes in my garage. I worry about the mold spores etc having spread into my other frames of drawn comb etc.

Mold spores the bees can handle, disease spores (per above) is something else again.  Tell you brother not to mix suspect with good equipment until due diligence is done, or does he understand hygenics?  I hope he washes after using the restroom. LOL

There also seems to be some little white larve living in the moldy mess.

Wax moth larvae.  Looks like you get to burn some frames after all.

As I said I will get some pictures if that helps to ID the ugly stuff. But it is mostly perfect rings of mold in the frames. Some just small 2-3 inches or so, others the whole frame is covered with the moldy gunk.
Let me know.
Frantz

Any that are that bad should be burned as the cost of the effort of trying to save them will exceed the cost of replacement.

[Frantz]

Here are the pics of the frames that I promised.

Some of them are just small circles like this. Others are like this across the whole frames


Some are just a little mold at the bottom like this...

Thanks for the input. I just don't want to screw any of this stuff up..

[Bill W.]

I used the frames that looked like your bottom pic and tossed the combs that looked like the rest of your pics.

The bees cleaned the mold right off and moved in.

[budsbee]

hello. i had some like that, i put an old pot on a turkey deep fryer and fill with water cook the wax off, and had deep fryed Wax moth larvae. :lol: :lol:

[Brian D. Bray]

hello. i had some like that, i put an old pot on a turkey deep fryer and fill with water cook the wax off, and had deep fryed Wax moth larvae. :lol: :lol:

Did thay taste like popcorn shrimp?

[budsbee]

yes they taste just like honey shrimp with a little wax on them. :-D :-D :-D

[metzelplex]

the top picture looks like it's yellow plastic foundation just take a hive tool and scrape out the mold damage down to the plastic then put it back in a box full of bees with a good honey flow or some sugar syrup so the bees can draw it back out the bottom frame dosen't look bad just put it in a strong box and they will clean it right up if the second from the bottom is also wax foundation scrape it down to the plastic and let the bees draw it back out if I get a little bit of wax moth damage on wax  foundation I just throw it in the freezer over night then I let it thaw out and put it back in a strong box  and let the bees clean it out .       hope this helps   metzelplex