Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => RAPID BEEYARD GROWTH => Topic started by: SCFarms on August 27, 2008, 03:36:50 am

Title: Cleaning Queen Excluders
Post by: SCFarms on August 27, 2008, 03:36:50 am
I have 500 Queen excluders I need to clean and the method I was taught seems kind of messy, I’m curious to hear what other beekeepers do to clean theirs so that I can find a better way to do mine this winter when I have some extra time.
Title: Re: Cleaning Queen Excluders
Post by: Bill W. on August 27, 2008, 04:38:57 am
If they're all metal, I think I would build a nice campfire and set them over it 10 or 20 at a time.  They'll burn clean pretty fast.
Title: Re: Cleaning Queen Excluders
Post by: pdmattox on August 27, 2008, 08:51:26 pm
we use a hotsy, A pressure washer with a heater on it. we also use it on feeder jars to clean out the little holes filled with wax.
Title: Re: Cleaning Queen Excluders
Post by: asprince on August 27, 2008, 09:00:04 pm
We place them over a fire barrel full of hot coals for about 20 - 30 seconds. Handle with pliers. Works fast.

Steve
Title: Re: Cleaning Queen Excluders
Post by: justgojumpit on December 23, 2008, 11:04:00 am
you could also use a torch if you have wood framed metal queen excluders.  They make torches that you hook up to a propane jug, like for a barbecue.  These put out a big flame (4" wide or so)

justgojumpit
Title: Re: Cleaning Queen Excluders
Post by: ANDREWSCHWAB on January 01, 2009, 01:28:50 pm
For years we would clean the hundreds of queen excluders by the above mentioned methods. :-\
For some reason one year they did not get cleaned.

To find out it didn't matter there was no more wax on them then when they where installed. Since then the excluders get a quick scraping so they store and sit flat, THAT"S IT!

The bees seem to want to put/fill a certain amount  of wax on them , but never do they come close to sealing them up
Title: Re: Cleaning Queen Excluders
Post by: rdy-b on January 01, 2009, 10:27:37 pm
I always get better results in the honey suppers after cleaning excluders-it is a ventalation thing for me-hapy bees are more productive-(i think :) )-RDY-B
Title: Re: Cleaning Queen Excluders
Post by: BjornBee on January 02, 2009, 09:43:06 am
I use flat plastic, and they are cleaned by a simple pass over with the hive tool while sitting on a flat surface.
Title: Re: Cleaning Queen Excluders
Post by: rdy-b on January 02, 2009, 12:42:33 pm
I also use the flat plastic -I boil a five gallon bucket-(metal) half full of watter on a turkey fryer-pick up five excluders bend and slip into the watter -pull out and dip other half -buy doing five at once you can run through a hundred in about forty minutes -takes time but it is easy work-RDY-B