🧪 Beekeeping Equipment Sterilisation Lab

About this simulation

Hive tools, frames and boxes carry propolis, wax grime and — occasionally — the spores of Paenibacillus larvae, the bacterium that causes American foulbrood (AFB). Ordinary washing removes grime but does very little to the spore's tough protein coat, which can survive for decades in old comb and equipment. This lab lets you dip a contaminated frame into different treatments and watch a simplified kill-curve model decide whether the job is actually done.

How it works

• Log reduction — each ten-fold drop in surviving contamination is one "log". Reaching AFB-safe levels needs a large log reduction, not just a quick rinse.
• Washing soda only reaches a high kill rate once the solution is actually boiling — at room temperature it mainly shifts grease and grime, which is why UK guidance calls for a rolling boil, not a cold soak.
• Sodium hypochlorite (diluted bleach) is dose-dependent: stronger available-chlorine concentration drives a faster, deeper kill even at room temperature.
• Flame scorching chars the wood surface directly and achieves a very fast kill once the torch has passed — but only where the flame actually reaches.
• Steam autoclaving at pressure and >100°C is the most reliably complete method, commonly used for metal tools and some plastics.
• When "AFB spores present" is off, the model instead tracks ordinary wax/propolis grime, which every method clears far more easily.

Controls

• Treatment method — choose the decontamination route.
• Concentration — strength of the washing soda / hypochlorite solution, torch passes, or steam pressure.
• Solution temperature — hotter treatments generally work faster (and washing soda needs it to boil).
• Exposure time — how long the item has been treated.
• AFB spores present — toggle between spore decontamination and routine hygiene cleaning.

Did you know?

In the UK, American foulbrood is a statutory notifiable disease. Badly affected colonies and their comb are usually destroyed by fire under bee inspector supervision, while reusable boxes and frames are only returned to service after proper sterilisation — this simulation is a simplified, illustrative model of that decision, not veterinary or regulatory guidance.