Natural Beekeeping International Forum

[TZBZ]

I have opened up my bee hives which were empty of bees all winter and some of the top of the frames have a light dusting of mold on them and the pollen that had been in the comb has a white layer of mold on top of them. It looks unsightly - is it harmful to bees? Should I try to remove it? If I catch a swarm and put them in, would they be able to clean off the mold, or is it better to have everything without mold?

Most importantly, how can I avoid this in the future. I am using plastic foundation - is that the problem?

Thanks in advance for your time.

[Barbara]

Hi

Sorry for the delayed reply. I only just saw this post.

I find that bees manage very well to clean up mouldy comb and remove spoiled pollen.

That said, I would very strongly urge you to get rid of your plastic foundation and allow your next bees to build natural comb to their own size and specification. Natural comb has a mixture of cell sizes, not just bigger drone and honey cells but also a variation in worker's cell sizes. Confining them to a uniform cell size with foundation is not healthy in my opinion and plastic does not buffer moisture like natural comb.

I'm assuming this is a Langstroth hive?

I would strip out the comb and plastic foundation and use starter strips in the frames to give the bees a guide to build from.

Good luck catching a swarm.

Regards

Barbara

[MikeRobinson]

If you are re-activating a hive that has been empty, you should scrub it thoroughly with soap and water, and with any other cleaning agent (white vinegar is a good choice) that will reliably remove the mold, dirt, dust, etc.

Allow the wood to dry thoroughly in the sun before putting bees into it.

When I am storing an empty hive, I store it open so that air can freely circulate and moisture doesn't so easily build up. Then, I let it sit outside in the direct sun for a couple days.

I applied Thompson's Water Seal to surfaces, when first constructing the hives. This has the added advantage of essentially eliminating mold, because moisture doesn't accumulate in the wood.