Wax Dipping Bee Equipment

A small amount of wax may drain from the dipped item.

Wax dipping bee equipment.

The term dip means a brief immersion into a liquid. Even better it can sterilize equipment including killing afb spores and is a recommended method for dealing with disease risk. What is wax dipping. Hivefive apiary bee supply llc 149 trident point rd.

This process is quick does not require space for drying and should last much longer than paint or stain. I was expanding my beekeeping and bought a lot of new equipment so i decided to try dipping in wax and gum rosin to preserve the equipment. The wax is super expensive but having it full means i can do 6 deep boxes at a time compared to 4 which really makes a difference when you are doing a lot of equipment. Fully refined with 0 8 oil content.

This process cooks. I haven t switched to using beeswax because it is so low temp and will get sticky. Parrafin wax is one of the industrial wax that you can use to dip your boxes in. Melt temperature range from 60c 62c.

Wax dipping is an alternative to painting for wood preservation. I got the tank from a friend who had it custom made. The initial set up for wax dipping is both complex and costly. Wax dipping bee equipment.

The only alternative methods of sterilization are gamma irradiation and complete destruction by fire. Dipping is often conducted during the winter months when the active beekeeping season has finished and apiarists have time to attend to maintenance of hive material and other equipment. Wax dipping beekeeping equipment. It would have been nice if it were taller but it works ok and i didn t have the time or money to get a better one made.

Wax dipping is also an effective way of disinfecting wooden parts and can be used to salvage equipment exposed to foulbrood as spores are eradicated by the extreme heat involved. This shows how we cook woodenware at 300 degrees fahrenheit for 10 minutes in a mixture of 20 microcrystalline wax and 80 paraffin wax. Coating the wood in wax is beneficial for the bees and the hive itself. However when apiarists dip their hive parts in molten hot wax it is usually for periods of up to 15 minutes the molten wax consists of 80 90 paraffin 99.

It is the placement of various beehive components or parts in hot molten wax.