Hive and Frame Maintenance Equipment

Hive and frame maintenance equipment is the full set of tools and materials used to clean, repair, disinfect, rewire and prepare hive bodies, frames and combs for the season. Scrapers, wire brushes, blowtorches, wiring and foundation-embedding devices, paint and wax-melting equipment are the main items in this group. Well-maintained hives and frames both lower the risk of disease and save time during the season.

Why does hive and frame maintenance matter?

A hive is a home where the bees live all year round, and over time propolis, wax, faeces, dead bees and disease agents build up in it. Old, darkened combs can carry both disease agents and chemical residues for a long time; the cells become narrower with the cocoons left behind by each generation of brood. A rotting floor, a cracked box and a loose frame open the door to heat loss, robbing and pests.

Maintenance work therefore falls into two parts: the small clean-ups done at every inspection during the season, and the major maintenance carried out when hives are empty or the bees are overwintering.

Which tools are used to clean hives?

• Hive tool: The basic tool for scraping propolis and wax off box edges, top bars and frame lugs. Details: the "Hive Tools and Hive Levers" page.
• Scrapers: Wide-bladed, long-handled scrapers are faster on floors and the inside walls of boxes.
• Wire brush and stiff plastic brush: They clean off the thin layer left after scraping, as well as frame grooves and corners. Details: the "Hive Cleaning Brushes and Wire Brushes" page.
• Bucket or box with a lid: For collecting scrapings; wax and propolis dropped on the ground attract robbing and pests.
• Hot water and washing soda: For washing plastic parts, feeders, queen excluders and tools.

How do you disinfect hives and tools?

Cleaning and disinfection are different jobs: first dirt and propolis are removed mechanically, then the surface is disinfected. The main methods are:

• Scorching with a blowtorch: The inside surfaces of scraped wooden bodies, floors and lids are scorched with a flame; the wood is heated until it turns light brown. This is the most common method for wooden and metal parts.
• Hot soda water: A cleaning wash for tools, plastic parts and feeders.
• Suitable chemicals: Plastic and foam hives cannot be flamed; after cleaning they are wiped with a suitable disinfectant (for example a bleach solution), rinsed thoroughly with water and dried.

With notifiable diseases such as American foulbrood, the combs and bees are often destroyed; how the equipment is to be cleaned is decided on the instructions of the authorities. Details are on the "Blowtorches and Disinfection" page.

What equipment is used to prepare frames?

A new or cleaned frame needs to be wired before the foundation is fitted. The wire keeps the foundation flat and stops a heavy honey comb from sagging or breaking in the extractor.

• Frame wire: Thin stainless or galvanised steel wire.
• Eyelets: Small metal rings pressed into the holes in the side bars of the frame; they stop the taut wire from cutting into the wood.
• Drilling jig: Ensures that the wire holes are drilled at the same height in every frame.
• Wiring board and tensioner: Holds the frame steady and pulls the wire evenly and tightly. Slack wire cannot hold the foundation.
• Foundation embedder: Embeds the wire into the foundation, either by heating it with a low-voltage electric current or with a toothed spur embedder.
• Frame nails, staples and glue: For assembling frames; fixing the corners with both glue and nails makes the frame last a long time.

How do you paint and protect hive woodwork?

• Outside surfaces only: Only the outside of the hive is painted; no paint or preservative is applied to the inside, the frames or the top bars.
• A suitable product: Wood preservatives containing insecticides and fungicides are risky for bees. Paints suitable for outdoor use whose smell disappears completely are preferred.
• Full drying: A hive is not put into use until the paint has dried completely and the smell has gone.
• Light colours: Light colours reduce overheating of the hive in the summer heat. Different colours and patterns help bees find their own hive where hives stand close together, and reduce drifting.
• Joints: If the mating surfaces of boxes are painted, the boxes may stick together; use a thin coat that has dried completely.

Equipment for storing combs and processing wax

• Comb storage cabinet or stack: After the harvest, empty combs are stored in a dry, cool, airy place that mice cannot get into. Freezing the combs for a while kills the eggs and larvae of wax moths; the combs are then stored in tightly closed boxes.
• Solar wax melter: Melts old comb and cappings wax with the sun's heat; it is simple and cheap and suitable for light-coloured wax.
• Steam or water-bath melter: Melts old, dark combs more efficiently.
• Gas burner and boiler: Used in the workshop for melting wax, boiling soda water and washing frames; fire precautions are essential for any work with an open flame.

Having foundation made from your own wax reduces the risk of bringing in residues from outside. On comb renewal, many guides recommend replacing part of the brood combs every year; darkened and misshapen combs are culled first.

Hive and frame maintenance calendar

Common mistakes

• Scorching without scraping first: A thick layer of propolis and wax keeps the flame from reaching the surface, and it catches fire as well.
• Painting the inside of the hive: Smells and chemicals can pass to the bees and the honey.
• Using old combs for years: The cells become narrower, and residues and disease build up.
• Storing combs in the open: They attract wax moths, mice and robbing bees.
• Leaving maintenance until the start of the season: Having no frames ready in spring delays colony build-up and splitting.