Wax Dipping Bee Equipment

The term dip means a brief immersion into a liquid.

Wax dipping bee equipment.

Wax dipped beehives and beekeeping equipment. The initial set up for wax dipping is both complex and costly. Hivefive apiary bee supply llc 149 trident point rd. 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.

This shows how we cook woodenware at 300 degrees fahrenheit for 10 minutes in a mixture of 20 microcrystalline wax and 80 paraffin wax. Fully refined with 0 8 oil content. 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. 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.

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. Coating the wood in wax is beneficial for the bees and the hive itself. I haven t switched to using beeswax because it is so low temp and will get sticky. Wax dipping bee equipment.

Here is a fact sheet from the new zealand. This process is quick does not require space for drying and should last much longer than paint or stain. This process cooks. A small amount of wax may drain from the dipped item.

Even better it can sterilize equipment including killing afb spores and is a recommended method for dealing with disease risk. Wax dipping is an alternative to painting for wood preservation. 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.

Parrafin wax is one of the industrial wax that you can use to dip your boxes in. I got the tank from a friend who had it custom made. Melt temperature range from 60c 62c. 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.

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