Mr. Wenning describes his first counter with another beekeeper's lack of hygienic behavior when he became the recipient of a jar of honey brimming with foam and swimming with particulates. Appropriate beekeeper hygienic behavior, according to Mr. Wenning, includes maintaining clean colonies, clean hives, clean apiaries and clean honey. The best way to do this is by continual inspection, particularly examining the outside of the hive, as well as adults and brood. One way to keep colonies clean is by routinely replacing old brood comb. This has been proposed a number of times, Mr. Wenning states.
Old combs are sinks for everything from bacterial spores to heavy metals.
They also can become contaminated with the pesticides used in controlling Varroa mites. Thus, he suggests beekeepers should consider marking brood frames with the date they first are used by bees for brood rearing. Mr. Wenning also recommends a 5-year rotation program, introducing new foundation into the center the nest and gradually moving the older brood comb to the outside of the colony, where it finally is removed and recycled. This concept of recycling comb wax brings up a point not mentioned by Mr. Wenning. The continued use of pesticides, and their accumulation in wax by recycling contaminated foundation, might affect future generations of honey bees in unknown ways.