# Anyone tried disinfecting comb with hydrogen peroxide?



## hummingberd (Aug 26, 2006)

I haven't tried it, but I recently suggested hydrogen peroxide bleach to another person who was thinking about using chlorine bleach. Yuck I hate that stuff. I'd be very interested in hearing about your progress or what you find. Keep us posted!


----------



## Aspera (Aug 1, 2005)

Be careful. Peroxides in high concentrations often explode.


----------



## hummingberd (Aug 26, 2006)

Aspera said:


> Be careful. Peroxides in high concentrations often explode.


huh? u serious man? I did not know that. How do you get it to explode?


----------



## Gene Weitzel (Dec 6, 2005)

hummingberd said:


> huh? u serious man? I did not know that. How do you get it to explode?


Hydrogen peroxide decomposes into water and oxygen. In high concentrations, the oxygen generated by this decomposition can pose an explosion risk. At the concentrations commonly used for bleaching and disinfecting (3-5%), it poses no such risk.


----------



## Aspera (Aug 1, 2005)

Exposure to UV light, heat or violent shaking can trigger the decomposition, which is itself heat producing reaction. Heat + Oxygen + Spontaneous Reaction = Explosion. Even relatively low concentrations (10%) in large volumes require special storage considerations such as light proof containers, cool rooms, no flammable materials stored in the same area.


----------



## danno (Dec 17, 2007)

*peroxide*

I have 15gals of 35% peroxide that i use to bleach skulls. It will burn your the skin off instantantly. I have used it as high as 50%. It come in black drums on fire resistant pallets


----------



## Efraim Mescheloff (Jun 27, 2006)

*The idea sounds good--but success is doubtful*

Spraying with a normal concentation (5-10%) of hydrogen peroxide shouldn't be any safety hazard if done out of doors, but there seem to me to be two reasons why this disinfectant won't do the trick:
1. In order to disinfect the frames it would be necessary to completely wet every surface of the frames--wood and wax--a difficult and very time and labor consuming process.
2. Even if the entire surface were to be wetted, the layers of exuviae pressed around the inner surfaces of the cells would probably prevent the peroxide from making the needed contact with all the hidden bacteria. These would lie "in ambush" to start a new outbreak of disease when the bees eventually come in contact with them.
But, if you only have a few hives and do have a lot of energy, why not try it? You never know what discoveries you will make.


----------



## peggjam (Mar 4, 2005)

Try acetic acid, no spraying, you just put 150ml on absorbant cloth, and seal the stack of 5-8 boxes. Takes a week to ten days depending on temp.


----------



## IslandMountainFarm (Feb 13, 2007)

Thanks peggjam, that sounds a lot easier. What concentration of acetic acid would you suggest and will the fumes dissipate naturally or is there some sort of post exposure procedure you'd recommend before putting the boxes back on hives?

I'm thinking that once a bee is carrying N. ceranae it's pretty much toast, so preventing further infection by reducing the spore count on equipment may be a more effective means to combat this problem. Here's hoping.


----------



## peggjam (Mar 4, 2005)

This is the plan as outlined by Bob Harrison:

" I plan to stack the deeps five high an place 150 mm of glacial acetic acid 60-80% on top. When evaporated the treatment is done. You can do outside as also repels moths etc. Make the stack air tight. Kills all nosema spores. Our method works as well as shiminuki's method with less effort however you need to wait for all the acetic acid to evaporate rather than set a so many day time limit as in the Shiminuki method. In fall the acetic acid evaporates at different rates in cold climates which is true of all chemicals which kill by fumes.
Sincerely,
Bob Harrison"


The 60-80% is incorrect, as glacial acetic acid is >99% pure. You should also allow an airing out period after treatment.
This is a source I am using to buy acetic acid. A bit pricey perhaps, but whatever works:

http://www.mpbio.com/product_info.php?cPath=491_1_15&products_id=300000&processTab=safety


----------

