clean mold with non-toxic hydrogen peroxide

After hanging in a tree through winter, my 8 frame swarm trap required a serious cleanup.

I used the curved end of a Standard Hive Tool to scrape off most of the black mold. This was followed by spraying 3% concentration hydrogen peroxide, waiting 10 minutes, then wiping off the mold with a cotton rag. Shown is the migratory cover after cleanup, ACE hardware spray bottle and CVS hydrogen peroxide. I found the cleanup steps on THE MAIDS BLOG.

I wore rubber kitchen gloves and safety glasses for the hydrogen peroxide portion of the cleanup. 

clean the AJ Beetle Eater

Yikes, after a few weeks, the AJ Beetle Eater is covered with propolis. I frequently rotate spare Beetle Eaters into the easily accessible top boxes, but I also want to clean and reuse the Beetle Eaters . FYI, I use two Beetle Eaters per box. Early attempts at cleaning the Beetle Eaters with soap and water were a disaster. Now, I use a cleaning scheme that works with a minimal amount of effort:

• drain used AJ Beetle Eater components at room temperature
• clean components with paper towel (no water)
• freeze all the AJ Beetle Eater components
• one component at a time, remove from freezer and chip away the propolis with a paint scrapper and dab up the vegetable oil with paper towel (no water)

So, the results are 95% clean as new Beetle Eaters and ready for re-use. The paint scraper is appropriately less sharp than a hive tool for chipping away the frozen propolis.