Although bee keeping is still considered a relative niche hobby, there has been a steady increase in the number of bee keepers in North America and Europe over the last five years or so and the increase in the popularity of bee keeping shows no signs of slowing down.
Due to this, we have noticed more and more people reaching out with various questions about how they should be going about caring for their bees and maintaining their hives correctly.
We have already published articles going over some of the questions that we have seen people asking but more recently, there has been an increase in the number of people asking about cleaning bee equipment with bleach.
This seems to be due to a number of heated discussions on social media going over the advantages and disadvantages of cleaning bee equipment with bleach but in many cases, the issue is actually the diluted ratio of bleach being used.
Due to this, we wanted to publish this article going over cleaning bee equipment with bleach to try and help as many of our readers as possible who are looking for a quick, easy, cheap, and effective way to clean their bee keeping equipment.
Is Bleach Toxic To Bees?
Pure bleach is toxic to bees and will quickly cause problems with your bee population if you use it to clean your hive, frames, or bee keeping equipment.
Even if you do dilute your bleach to clean your bee keeping equipment, there are still a number of potential problems that can occur if your bleach concentration is too high.
Depending on what you are doing, you will usually need a bleach solution of between 0.5% bleach and 4% bleach, usually with the remainder being water.
The problem is, due to this bleach solution being water based, it can often do little to nothing in heavily waxed hives so there are usually better options out there.
Although their prices are pretty expensive, we have noticed a number of specialist solutions appearing on the market that have been specifically designed for use with cleaning bee keeping equipment.
Using one of these helps to remove the risk of having to get the correct ratio of bleach in your own DIY solution helping to reduce the potential problems somewhat.
Still, these specialist cleaning products are new to the market, expensive, and depending on your area, very difficult to find.
This is why many people still use bleach when trying to clean their bee keeping equipment.
Can You Use Bleach To Clean Bee Frames?
The most important part of your bee hive is the frames as these provide the structure for everything else.
If you are using a standard Langstroth hive, you will have 10 or more frames in each box and if you are using top bar hives, you may have 20 or more frames.
This means that if you do want to use bleach to clean your frames, you will likely go through a lot of bleach very quickly.
As we have already mentioned, this isn’t ideal as it is expensive and can cause problems with your bees if you don’t get the ratio right.
We would recommend avoiding using bleach on your frames entirely and instead focus on other methods such as boiling or using a specialist cleaning solution.
Still, we know that many people will want to use a bleach solution to clean their bee frames.
The majority of people will usually use a bleach ratio of between 2% and 4% bleach with the remainder being made up of water.
Many people do use this bleach ratio with minimal issues with their bees but some people will use a 1% or even 0.5% solution for their bee frames.
If you are just doing regular cleaning then you can easily get away with a 0.5% bleach solution but if there is something on your frames that you are trying to clean off then you will have to go with something between 2% and 4% in most cases.
How Can I Clean My Bee Hive With Bleach?
Cleaning your bee hive with bleach is actually relatively simple and only requires a few items that you likely already have in your home.
All you need is some distilled white vinegar, a spray bottle, water, rubber gloves, and of course, bleach.
The first thing you need to do is make sure that your hive is completely empty of bees and that all the frames have been removed.
Once you have done this, you can start to mix up your bleach solution.
We would recommend using a 1% or 0.5% bleach solution for cleaning your bee hive as anything stronger than this can be quite harmful to your bees.
To make your solution, simply mix 1 part bleach with 99 parts water or 1 part bleach with 49 parts water depending if there is excessive bee poop or other problems that need cleaning.
Once you have mixed up your solution, you can then start to spray it inside your hive, making sure to get all the nooks and crannies.
You can then leave your hive to air out for at least 30 minutes before putting your bees back in.
Make sure that you ventilate your hive well during this time as the fumes from the bleach can be harmful to your bees.
How Often Should I Clean My Bee Hive With Bleach?
The frequency with which you clean your bee hive with bleach will depend on a number of factors such as the size of your hive, the number of bees, and the amount of traffic that comes in and out.
In general, we would recommend doing a deep clean of your hive at least once a year.
This means taking everything out of your hive and giving it a good scrub down with a bleach solution.
If you have a small hive, you may be able to get away with doing this every other year but in general, once a year is sufficient.
You should also do a regular cleaning of your hive every few months.
This involves taking out the frames and giving them a good wipe down with a cloth that has been dipped in a bleach solution.
You don’t need to do this as often as you do a deep clean but it is still important to do on a regular basis.
Can You Use Bleach To Clean Bee Keeping Equipment?
Cleaning the various bee keeping accessories tends to be much easier than actually cleaning the hive or frames.
Most people will be able to use a 0.5% bleach solution for cleaning bee keeping equipment without issue.
In most cases, you will be able to just steep most bee keeping accessories in your bleach solution for a day and then re-steep it in a container with fresh water.
This should be enough to remove the bleach left over on the equipment and keep it safe for use with your bees in the future.
Conclusion
In conclusion, yes, you can use bleach to clean your bee hive but we would recommend avoiding it if possible.
If you do want to use bleach, make sure that you use a dilute solution and ventilate your hive well afterwards.
Clean your hive on a regular basis, both with a deep clean and a regular cleaning, to keep it in good condition.
