# How to clean plastic foundation



## BeeCurious

I scraped off some disused pf- 120's and put them back into hives without adding any new wax. Four days later I was amazed to see how well the bees were drawing them out. 

If you have the time / patients to add wax that's fine, if not, that seems to be fine too. Try your own experiment...


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## danno

Why are you scaping them?


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## BeeCurious

danno said:


> Why are you scaping them?


I scraped off old dried up cocoons and cruddy wax... Had it been simply wax foundation it would have been tossed in the trash as there wasn't any "wax" worth saving.


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## Honey-4-All

Three words to solve your dilemma.

PRESSURE-WASHER-TIME

inch:

Works great to remove any pupa casings below the midrib lines. If you do so the bees will jump on a frame a whole lot quicker than "dirty" foundation.


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## gmcharlie

been pondering that myself, got 700 pf's a cpl weeks ago and they are in varioous forms of crappy.... tried boiling (warps them terrible) tried diswasher (wax everywhere and not clean) I finaly so far have been happiest with just air.....


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## sfisher

What degree nozel do you use with the pressure washer?


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## Michael Bush

When the wax moths are done, the webs just fall off...


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## Ross

I remove it and throw it away and make that frame foundationless.


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## hilreal

Well, if you have investment in lots and lots of frames it might be worth cleaning them. IF you are only talking 20 or less, recycle them and spend the few bucks to buy new ones.


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## khaas15

I have used a pressure washer too, worked well. The bees built the frames right out again.


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## A_Bee_Guy

Sounds like the pressure washer is the way to go. I have a lot of frames that use the plastic, and if there's an efficient way to clean them, I'm all for it. Thanks for all the good comments!


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## Fuzzy

Cleaning--- Use flat end of hive tool to remove old comb material ( scraping into a garbage bag ). The entire process takes about 45 seconds per side.

The frame is now ready to re-deploy. It is still lightly covered with wax and bees will draw it out quickly. I suppose that you could add wax with a brush or roller but why bother.

Fuzzy


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## Adrian Quiney WI

Pressure washer question. Does the pressure washer have to be one with a gas engine or will an electric work? Is the pressure washer water hot or cold?
I have never had a pressure washer, and like the idea of a thorough decoccooning. I see a few pressure washers on craigslist, but don't want another gas motor to maintain.


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## krad1964

I have an electric pressure washer and it works fine. Cold water from the hose works. Prepare to get wet.


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## Adrian Quiney WI

Thanks Krad - sounds more like a July job than a March one.


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## krad1964

Yes. I did it the other day and was sopping wet and covered in wet hive debris. Cleaned them up good though. I did paint on some wax, but probably could have skipped it.


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## mattthewlake

The wax moth answer is the best. Just spend the extra few bucks like hilreal said and redeploy the old frames after the moths have done their work.


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## Lburou

A bee guy, that foundation looks pretty good to me, as long as there is some wax remaining on it. 

I saw a youtube video of a beekeeper who dipped his foundation in hot wax (half at at time), swished it a bit and pulled it out clean enough to place back in a frame and put it in a hive. 

I got an electric hot plate, put a stock pot on it with about 7 or 8 inches of water and about half inch of wax, then heated it to about 195 F. Dipping plastic frames in the pot produced a nice even coat of wax for the bees to start with.


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## AramF

I am beginning to think that saving wax foundation is only worth the trouble if the cells are only 3-4 years old. Otherwise you put in the labor and get no wax out of it. Worse, you spend time, water and gas pressure washing. It is still kind of dirty when you are done, except you are soaking wet with cocoons all over your head and every unprotected crevice in your body. Now you have to put it in your laundry machine and **** propolis starts staining the drum and your relationship with the spousal unit.

With younger wax it tends to come off cleaner, you get wax to melt and you don't have to pressure wash it, just return it. Easier to feed them some syrup rather than deal with that mess. Maybe the old frames can be used to attract wild swarms.

Can the old foundation be placed in the compost file for earthworm to clean them up?


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## AramF

I am beginning to think that saving wax foundation is only worth the trouble if the cells are only 3-4 years old. Otherwise you put in the labor and get no wax out of it. Worse, you spend time, water and gas pressure washing. It is still kind of dirty when you are done, except you are soaking wet with cocoons all over your head and every unprotected crevice in your body. Now you have to put it in your laundry machine and **** propolis starts staining the drum and your relationship with the spousal unit.

With younger wax it tends to come off cleaner, you get wax to melt and you don't have to pressure wash it, just return it. Easier to feed them some syrup rather than deal with that mess. Maybe the old frames can be used to attract wild swarms.

Can the old foundation be placed in the compost file for earthworm to clean them up?


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## BernhardHeuvel

Just repeat what others said: do not cook'em. Pressure washer is the way to go. Heavy duty if available, only four strokes per comb needed then.

After making a first trial with a Rovergarden comb, an Italian made plastic comb fully drawn, sucessfully, I put a bunch of the combs of all sorts into the wax boiler. 









Well, it turned out that the Rovergarden can stand the heating, while the other plastic foundations do not... :no:









The Rovergarden withstand the cooking well. The cooking removed the wax. After removing the wax there is bee bread and the skins of the pupae left behind in the cells. I used a strong high-pressure cleaner to wash them out. This is the first try.









Looks nice and clean.









They are still not new but fairly clean. One could try to cook them in caustic soda solution, to remove the remaining propolis shadows, but after messing up the foundations I just didn't feel to give it another try... :lpf:


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## Lburou

Adrian Quiney WI said:


> ....... I see a few pressure washers on craigslist, but don't want another gas motor to maintain.


Try a quarter car wash.


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## AramF

Bernhard,

I am curious about Rovergarden frames. Are they like honey supercell, when the cells are completely drawn out, or are they more like foundation plastic frames that bees still need to draw out?


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## cblakely

AramF said:


> Can the old foundation be placed in the compost file for earthworm to clean them up?


I have a couple of worm beds that I use for composting. This spring I threw my old slum gum in there. I still noticed it there 2-3 months later, but I believe that eventually it broke down. I do not believe that the worms touched it.


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## Honey Hive Farms

Pressure washer but keep it moving so not to eat through the plastic. .


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## BernhardHeuvel

AramF said:


> Are they like honey supercell, when the cells are completely drawn out, ...


Fully drawn cells. Like the HSC. Just Dadant sizes available. 4.9 mm cells.


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