Fat Bee Man - How to Clean Frames of Wax 

Thank you , as a first year bee keeper you have been one of my best resources for information.

Gday mate i am just starting to think about getting into bee keeping on a very small scale ,i have been watching a lot of videos and yours are the best so far . The way you show how to on every aspect is really refreshing to see , i like the way you recycle your wax and even make your own foundation i think that is great people might say oh thats old fashioned doing all that just buy some new ones ,well being near 60 i like it nothing is wasted and all gets used again ,one day there will come a time where these skills will be lost and im glad you take the time to pass on your knowledge the old saying rings true you never stop learning .

Thanks Don this is the first year that I've made honey and only have two boxes of medium frames with comb.Good lord willing I'm going to send you some money next month because I really enjoy watching these they have taught me alot.A hint for a new video getting your hives ready for the spring flow.Thanks.Ken

Totally agree with you Don. This is the easiest way to deal with wax.

I made a groove cleaner, all it is a 16" penny nail with the head cut off and took a piece of scrap wood for a handle, i took the handle and drilled it out where the nail will fit down the middle with out splitting it, and took a hammer drove the head in down into the handle, then i bent the nail where it was comfortable to push the wax out of the groove, you will be surprise how much wax is in the groove parts of a frames It is dangerous if you put the other hand down on the bottom to clean the groove it may slip and go into your hand but if you hold the frame on top it want happen! Makes it even easier to have the frames setting in sun light when cleaning them

Great video Don, just taken over some old hives in England and started cleaning the frames. Thanks for the help

Great video, I also tend to soak mine in a solution of lye after cleaning. its nice to see someone keeping, using and recycling every part of the hive! :-)

your right I always have bleached them with Clorox because had it. both would do the trick. Don

Appreciate your time to pass your knowledge and experience. If you can make a video on how to make fondant or sugar cake for winter feeds - thanks again

I use a large rubber maid tub maybe 15 gal with 2 cups bleach.I would not scorch hives unless it is eat up with wax moth cocoons.bleach will kill most fungus's. Don.

I really appreciate all the "nitty gritty" details Don puts out for us who are wanting to get a start in beekeeping. I believe he lives quite far south as compared to me, but I'm curious if someone can remind me what state Don is in, please? I know he said in at least one video I've watched, but I can't remember. I HOPE I'm close enough that maybe I could become one of his students. 😉 I NEED to find RU-vidrs who are in the northern region so I can learn more about prepping for winter, COLD winters with snow.

we extract all the time with no problems. go slow we use a hand crank seems to work best for us.you can always use fishing line as in my videos on utube. Don

You sir, have scored another subscriber!

thanks very helpful

Wonderful tips,as a beginner, the simple things are not always obvious.So thanks so much for sharing.Why do you leave the propolis to spring to clean off?

great informative video!! very helpful to us newbees! thankyou.

Very Useful Details for Beginners or Any Beekeeper! How Much Bleach to a gallon of water? What time of year is it best to do this?

Good sound advice. Thanks

I love how the bees are always showing up in the videos 😂 🐝

Great Video!! We watch all of your instructions, and have had alot of sucess with our hives as a result. What is the bleach to water ratio? 2 cups of bleach to how much water? Will the bleach soak destroy things like nosema, or chalkbrood? What about soaking the supers? Would you advise that also? We scorch the boxes we take off at the end of the season (we are in Ohio), to kill molds or fungus. Thanks for passing your knowledge along to the next generation of beekeepers!!

always rinse.then your ready to go. Don

hello its just quick to leave it and scrape it in spring when I get more sales. Don

Great video - you have a new subscriber! Any thoughts on what kind of knife I should use?

Please Don, next video could you show us how to make winter feed of Findant or sugar cake ? Thanks

I have bees in 4 spots, 1 under a oak tree where I have a moth infestation .... nothing i can do to keep the away. So I will met it down from now on. The other places are in total sun and not many issues with moths so far so i keep the wax there

Thanks!

What happened to the fishing lines that you use to hold the foundation to the frame?

Hey Don. When do you bleach them, in the fall? How long does it take for the bleach smell to go away in order not to stink the bees out of the hive?

One more question Don. Concerning Propolis? If using a trap, does it slow down honey production?

Great video - after soaking in bleach water for 15mins, do you rinse the frames to remove residue of bleach? Or the bees will clean the frames? -thanks for all your help

is it ok if some of the propolis gets mixed in the melting wax or will it start a fire.

So if I were to completely get all the wax out it would not be detrimental to the bees to have to rebuild next year.

What if we have wires inside the wax?

your comb is quite dry biscuit. usually comb is kind of sticky and gluey.

Just a quick question.... Will the bees be affected by the bleach water.

I would ad a teaspoon of lye to it and have a better chance killing moth larva. Don

you could have had a wasp get in and kill the queen. or maybe you had a swarm land on it. Don

Don I went to my bee yard around 5:00 yesterday and found a very small ball of bees were on the landing of hive 1. Walked back by about 5:15 and they were still there. smoked them away to find a dead queen. Had a ball game so i did not look inside the hive; will later. Ever seen this this time of year? What do you think is going on. thanks

Isn't oxalic acid's traditional use wood bleach?

I am a new bee keeper I jab to hives they both die. I am cleaning them out now I had mouse in them can I clean out the boxes with bleach water too . How do I do that .

I've found great handbook on woodprix website. Good solutions for everyone I think

Instead of bleaching, wouldn't an oxalic acid soak work? OA is wood bleach and I know you have OA for Varroa fumigation.

I sell all I have online.you can check beesource. there is always people posting there. Don

My question is:- Is it necessary to have bee wax in every frame, I have no these yellow papers, is there any alternative, can I put simple frames without these yellow sheets

Don how much does it hurt your honey production to do this I've read where it takes nine Lbs of honey to make one Lb of wax is this true or not.

Where do you find people/companies who want to buy propolis?

What frame do you recommend

I did it with Woodprix.

What is propolis???

Woodglut has a lot of designs to choose from.

well everyone has a opinion. if it was true I would never make a drop of honey even splitting you wont make honey people say. I make more then I want.from 2=6 gal per hive. Don

Can you tell me how long on average does a queen live?

first rule: keep your frames on flat surface

9 minutes + for 2 small frames, do you want a job to do 500+? about 48 hours non stop. good method if you have only a few and no wires but if you have a few hundred it takes a while. i prefer the steam cleaner.

Would moth balls in the hive get rid of the wax moths and be okay for bees?

I made it with Woodprix handbooks !

This time I'll use woodprix instructions to make it by my hand :)

I wonder about putting frames in a solar wax melter and letting it melt of