# Tool sterilization



## Akmac (Jun 16, 2012)

A question for folks who run more than one hive. Do you ever sterilize your equipment in between hives? I could easily see where a hive tool could easily spread disease through an apiary.


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## abejorro (May 9, 2011)

One reason to buy a tall smoker - stick your hive tool in hot smoker when done.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Akmac said:


> A question for folks who run more than one hive. Do you ever sterilize your equipment in between hives? I could easily see where a hive tool could easily spread disease through an apiary.


Nope, never do.


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

I'll go with what sqkcrk said, "Unclean hive tools do not spread disease." and add: Diseased hives and beekeepers spread disease.

But, whenever I visit another beekeeper, and bring my own tools, I always sterilize them thoroughly, first and then again, before I use them at home, again.


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## Keth Comollo (Nov 4, 2011)

I don't worry about it too much but people who I haven't visited the hives of don't use their tools on my hives. Anal? Perhaps.


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

sqkcrk said:


> Do you sterilize your hands every time you put down a fried chicken leg? Do you ever sterilize your hands or your knives, forks, and spoons?


???? What would any of that have to do with it? You don't spread diseases by going from your mouth to um your mouth. You spread a disease by going from your mouth to someone elses. Whatever is on your hands probably came from inside you. so you are not really at much risk from it. It is everyone and everything else that can get sick from it.

Otherwise just pass a flame over the tool to clean it. That is what you woudl do to clean a knife in order to do a tracheotomy. So I suppose if you can have a new airway cut through your throat with that method it will work fine for your hives.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Is that what you do, Daniel? Or will do when you have more than one or two hives? Carry a blowtorch and run flame over your hive tool every time you work more than one hive?

My point is that sterilization isn't necassary to begin with. Maybe the author was simply asking about cleaning the hive tool and the word sterilization was used instead of washed. I don't know. Either way, sterilization is overkill and washing between hives isn't necassary, unless perhaps the a hive was diseased w/ AFB. 

And even then, the minute amount of spores one would transfer from one hive to another would be so small as to be inconsequential. It takes more than spores to establish the disease in a healthy colony. 

If washing your hive tool between colonies makes you feel better, then do it. No skin off of my nose. It is not a means by which AFB is spread anyway. But, if you think it is, then cleaning is what you should do. But only if it makes you happy.


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## AR Beekeeper (Sep 25, 2008)

It is almost impossible to spread AFB with a hive tool, smoker or gloves when they are used in the usual manner. Most of the advice given about sterilization of equipment is someone passing along information they have read in a government pamplet, that was written by someone playing CYA.


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

I suppose if a blow torch is the only way you can come up with a flame that is what you would have to do. I just carry a lighter.

I don't worry about it with my bees. But it is one thing that we did when it came to our 700 breeding head of rabbits. We also took measures along this line for our 175 plus dogs we bred. A person was actually required to sterilize their feet and hands if they came around my pigs. You also had to sterilize your hands around my pigs when you moved from pen to pen.
When it came to aquariums I actually had separate sets of equipment that was dedicated to each one. I have worked in laboratories where you can't leave with anything you came in with that was exposed to the air. not even the clothes on your back. Luckily they provide you with disposable ones. So I think I know quite a bit more about the transfer of disease than you ever will. Should you clean or sterilize your tools from hive to hive? IF you don't want to spread diseases you should. but then you could also wear disposable coveralls, gloves, a mask so you don't breath on your bees and many other things. Do you? I doubt very many beekeepers even think about it. Should do and do are not the same thing. Just because you don't do what should be done does not mean it should not be done. I don't think you should run around antagonizing new members of their forum. But then that doesn't seem to matter either. I don't think how long I have had bees has one thing to do with correct information about transference of pathogens either. But in your infinite beekeeping experience you must obviously know better. Next time I need surgery I'll be sure to check how much beekeeping experience my doctor has had. I woudl not want his education in sterilization to be lacking.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

My question to you was not a personal attack. Mearly a way to ask you to think.

You sterilized your hive tool when working your rabbits?

Did I bring up your years of beekeeping experience, this time? I don't think so.

Look, the best defense against diseases in beehives is knowldege, not tool sterilization. I mean no disrespect to anyone whatsoever, but, if you will take my word, for what it is worth, sterilization of one's hive tool between hives and between yards is overkill and unnecassary as far as disease transfer is concerned. 

Making someone feel good is another subject. If doing so makes someone feel as though they are "doing the right thing", then I'm all for them doing so. But, please don't fool anyone else with mythinformation.

There is a big difference between dogs, pigs, aquariums, etc. and honeybees.

If I have been disrespectful to the OPer, let him/her tell me so. I will apologize. I only mean to inform according to my own knowledge and life experience and never do I demand that anyone do what I do. Only that they take what I do into consideration.

If I ever need surgery, I hope my Physician knows nothing about bees and beekeeping and everything about how to do his/her job and do it well. A friend of mine has a Son who just died from an infection he received while doing surgery on a patient of his. These things happen. I bet everything was sterilized which needed to be. But it ain't beekeeping.


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

You're fine Mark. I agree, beekeeping is not dogs, pigs, and aquariums. Daniel, having had experience in these three doesn't equate to more understanding in the world of beekeeping. I think Mark has plenty of experience to back up what he says.


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

You all can think whatever you want about sanitary practices. The rest of the world started figuring it out right about the time doctors started getting a clue that they should not try to dig bullets out of people with their fingers. Keeping bees does not exempt a person from the realities of biology. Oh yeah infection is readily transferred to anything else int eh known world, but not bees. Really , Any laws of physics are bees immune to?


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

Mark, I apologize. I read your comment about "What i will do when I have more than one or two hives" as a typical jab about beekeeping experience. I readily admit it was my mistake in how I read it.
The answer is no. I don't consider cleaning my tools when I move from hive to hive (I have 2).
1. I have never sen it addressed as an issue in anything including this forum.
2. Other practices I have adopted in regard to the care of other animals where done so due to recommendations.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

You misunbderstand and seem not to know how bees get the infectious diseases which they get. I will defer to you in practices having to do w/ hogs, dogs, and fish. The least you can do is grant me the same in one area, bees.

It may be circumstantial evidence, but, if no one I know keeping hundreds and thousands of colonies of bees ever washes their hive tools and yet has no great amount of AFB in their hives, does that not say something about the correlation between an unwashed hive tool and disease transfer.

By some folks' standards here AFB should be rampant in colonies of the unwashed. No?


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

Mark,
As for differing to your understanding about bees. Granted you have the experience. But do you have the knowledge or even the intelligence. that is a serious question I must answer for myself not intended as an insult. I have read many posts of yours. I appreciate your involvement in the group your willingness to share and often I find your comments in depth and I at least suppose accurate. Then I find in your comments as well as several others that they venture into thing I do know about and I find the information less than accurate. At worst I will simply say the jury is still out as to the quality of information on this group for me. No insult to anyone just simply a recognition that the ability to speak is no indication of intelligence.

On the issue of how diseases of bees are transferred I admit my understanding is not complete. Here is what I do know

Of the 6 "main" bee diseases, American Foul Brood, European Foul Brood, Nosema, Chalkbrood, Stone Brood and Sac Brood.
3 are Bacterial or Protozoan
2 are Fungal and
1 is Viral

What I don't know is the viability of any of them. But I do know for a fact that Bacteria, Protozoa, Fungus and Viruses can be transferred on infected tools. Can these specific pathogens be transferred? I need to know more about their specific viability to know.


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

Daniel Y said:


> But do you have the knowledge or even the intelligence. that is a serious question I must answer for myself not intended as an insult.


I suggest you ask it of yourself then and not of other members without undo reason, even if it's not intended as an insult. I have no doubt that both you and Mark are intelligent men.

I'll point out that honeybees do have a unique element that factors into this discussion. It's called propolis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propolis



prevent diseases and parasites from entering the hive, and to inhibit bacterial growth[SUP][3][/SUP]


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Akmac said:


> A question for folks who run more than one hive. Do you ever sterilize your equipment in between hives?


No, I don't.


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## certaut (Apr 15, 2010)

> Barry;820544 It's called propolis.


+1 on that. Granted I haven't had bees that long but I have been a health-food store customer for 40 year, and now I get my own propolis. The collection is easy I just scrape the frame sides into a 1/2 pint mason jar combine it with crushed comb left-overs and a " bit between the cheek and gum" works well. Not only does it prevent cotton mouth it makes me feel better. The plus is my breath is not as offensive to the bees as it is to most people.


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## Andrew Dewey (Aug 23, 2005)

I wash my hive tools in the kitchen sink when they get covered with propolis and groady. I use dish soap on them too but I wouldn't consider them sterilized. It is not so much for sanitation, just I don't like using crud loaded tools.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

There are numerous viruses. Primarily spread by Nosema apis and varroa jacobsonii, according to "Honeybee Pests, Predators, and Diseases".

AFB: "The disease is spread from colony to colony by robbing and drifting bees. In addition, beekeepers canspread American foulbrood by inadvertently feeding honey or pollen from diseased colonies or interchanging brood combs between diseased and healthy colonies." Dr. Hachiro Shimanuki

"The appearance of large numbers of hobby beekeepers in recent years has made it imperative that recognition of bee diseases be taught as a first lesson. Beekeepers must learn to distinguish American foulbrood disease from other, less important diseases." Dr. Hachiro Shimanuki

What I recall from my two years of education under Dr. Jim Tew at ATI/OSU, AFB is spread by:
1. Beekeepers buying old used infected equipment.
2. Beekeepers extracting honey from infected hives and putting the infected combs back on uninfected colonies.
3. Bees robbing honey from infected hives.
4. Packages shaken from infected colonies.
5. Nucs made from infected colonies.

The best defence against the spread of AFB:
1. Knowledge of the disease.
2. The ability to recognize the disease and to recognize when a colony isn't healthy.
3. The ability of the beekeeper to properly identify the disease and dispose of it in a proper and effective manner, so it will no longer be a source of disease.
4. The use of queens w/ high hygenic characteristics, making their colony less suseptible to diseases because of their house cleaning ability.

What it takes to infect a colony of bees w/ AFB.
1.Larvae fed AFB spores must be less than 53 hours after egg hatch old. Any older, they are not susceptible.
2. The LD50 of Bascillus larvae (aka AFB) is 35 spores in one day old honeybee larvae.

For those who wish to learn more about Honeybee diseases and pests, I recommend buying a copy of "Honey Bee Pests, Predators, & Diseases" Edited by Roger A. Morse and Kim Flottum and read it. There is a lot of good information available there.

I don't know what more I can say.


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

From the link I see things that apply to propolis and sanitation of the hive.
1. it seals the hive. this one fails to apply once a hive is opened.
2. it is believed it might have anti bacterial properties.
Hmm number two may be nothing more than hopeful thinking but hey I'll concede for the purpose of this discussion.

I looked into the viability of Nosema just as an exorcise in researching the transmission and viability of at least one common bee disease. I a nut shell the information I read clearly says they don't know how it is spread. It also says the "Suspect" it is spread by infected feces on comb. Nosema is also a disease that is more common in apiaries than in natural colonies indicating that the management of bees or some portion of management increases infection. But then all sorts of things can be suspected. In the end they know it happens more in managed colonies and they don't know why. Common use of hive tools cannot be ruled out.

So for the sake of conversation lets say these researchers at least have some accurate clue as to what to suspect. And that is feces on comb. is that comb anywhere from in the hive? Feces only on comb storing honey? does it get tracked all through the hive? It is actually quite likely that if infected feces is left on hive is it tracked to every part of the hive. Tops of frames. sides of frames etc. right where a hive tool will contact it.

But again we are venturing down trails of assuming. In the end you cannot rule out any method of transmission when the method of transmission is not known.

On the issue of viability. It is said that nosema is highly viable and can survive for months. it is not killed by freezing but some suggestions that heat will destroy it. It could in fact remain dried up on a hive tool for months and still be capable of infecting the next hive it was used on.
The question still remains, "Does It?

I was actually surprised how little is known about such a common bee disease. Surprised to the point I am asking myself. Is anyone really looking for answers? As these things become more and more common the industry that provides the treatments for such diseases becomes itself the incentive to not find answers.

Yeah well that trail can go on and on. I will just say I find more than enough evidence to follow it for myself.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Never. You probably do as much good by spreading beneficial organisms...


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## NasalSponge (Jul 22, 2008)

Nope....don't do it.


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## Akmac (Jun 16, 2012)

Thank you all for this lively discussion. I have a background in biology and find in other fields that sterlization of tools can be very important. I have found little discussion of this subject in my beekeeping studies, hence my inquiry. What I have gained from this is if I find I have an infected hive then I will sterlize my tools, until then I probably won't.


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