# Cleaning queen excluders



## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

The only way I've ever cleaned welded wire queen excluders, so far, is to burn off the debris with a torch flame. It is a very quick way to clean them.


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## snl (Nov 20, 2009)

Ditto on what JC wrote.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

How about putting them in a bleach solution after you've done scrubbing. Then
hang them to dry afterward.


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

Hot air gun/paint stipper. 
They dont have to be cleaned like you were going to dry apple slices on them! No use making them any cleaner than the frames, comb or boxes unless you are dealing with foulbrood. The bees are going to walk all over them and gung them up again in a few days.

The torch flame would be more likely to destroy any disease if that was crucial.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Thanks for the input guys, much appreciated!

The system I am using to clean the excluders is working very well. Hot dipping them in wax melting water and scrubbing the propolis is cleaning them up nice. Lots of work, and if it were not for the propolis this job would be a snap. 

The reason I ask about disease spread is because all the excluders are going through the same bath. And if there were a disease situation ( which there is not ) this would be a good way to spread it between all the equipment. 

Is there anything I can add to the melt water that would kill spores?


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Using a flame to clean the excluders will damage your wires. You might be careful not to overheat for a while, but eventually you will scorch the wires taking the temper out. You will have rusty excluders and warped wires after a while. 

Just a heads up, Cheers!


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## Chip Euliss (Sep 2, 2010)

I have a couple of solar wax melters that will hold about 20 excluders each. I pull them out when they are hot, lay them on the top of a barrel and lightly swipe them with a wire brush. Propolis pushes to the opposite side where a light brush knocks them off. I don't worry about keeping them spotless.


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## Storehouse Farms (Aug 9, 2014)

I know this is in the commercial page and my method probably won't work on a large scale, but I'll share it anyways. This year I accidently learned a very efficient, zero labor process for cleaning my queen excluders. I set some against the fence one afternoon and forgot about them. The next morning I came out and they were clean. I had my suspicions so I decided to test my theory. The next day I placed some more out, and sure enough, my chickens ran over and cleaned them spotless.


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

I don't have one, but have thought of building a tank, like one that would be used for dipping boxes in wax. Fill it with water and have a propane burner boil the water. Seems like it would get them clean without damaging the wire coatings. I agree with Ian that torches will damage the wires.


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

It must be fortunate, then, that propolis and beeswax melt at much lower temperatures than zinc and steel. Melting the debris from my excluders has yet to see one rust or exhibit other damage from the process - and I've been doing it this way, for more than four decades.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

I load about 50 into the tank to heat up, then take one at a time and swish it around for 10-20 seconds. The edges I am spending another minute scrubbing the propolis down a bit. Makes for a nice clean excluder afterwards. Mine were getting a bit full...lol

http://s1277.photobucket.com/user/IanSteppler/media/IMG_2317_zps9b56c977.jpg.html


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## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

If you have enough wax to justify, I would run them as you are to recover wax, then a second time with a hot Oakite floor cleaner solution. it is the only thing that seemed to work on propolis on the floor. 

Crazy Roland .


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## Adrian Quiney WI (Sep 14, 2007)

Would steam work? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzkxq7qGqxQ


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Put them in the freezer and the propolis pops off really easy when you scrape them cold...


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## jmgi (Jan 15, 2009)

I build a fire outside between a couple stacks of cement blocks about 2 ft. high and just far enough apart that a queen excluder can span it and rest on the blocks. I get the fire nice and hot by adding logs for about an hour, then I take a rake and level the hot coals evenly. Then I just start laying an excluder at a time on the blocks and let the heat melt the wax off into the fire, it doesn't take but a few seconds each. Obviously you need to use pliers or thick gloves to remove the excluders from the fire when they're done.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

My steam box fits excluders:



VIDEO:

http://s156.photobucket.com/user/od...ghtsideup20131109_142300_zps3b3ff274.mp4.html


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## GaSteve (Apr 28, 2004)

http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/Excluder-Cleaning-Tool/productinfo/514/

These QE cleaning tools work pretty well. Still a manual process, but it's better and faster than a hive tool because the teeth match the QE wire diameter and spacing.


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## beebreeder (Nov 24, 2009)

Ian said:


> Thanks for the input guys, much appreciated!
> 
> The system I am using to clean the excluders is working very well. Hot dipping them in wax melting water and scrubbing the propolis is cleaning them up nice. Lots of work, and if it were not for the propolis this job would be a snap.
> 
> ...


In the uk we use washing soda, the bee inspectorate say that in the right concentration it kills disease spores, caustic soda dissolves propolis but is not good for people


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