Gamma irradiation is a physical means of decontamination – it kills bacteria by breaking down bacterial DNA, inhibiting bacterial division, using high-energy photons that are emitted from an isotope source (Cobalt 60). Energy (gamma rays) passes through hive equipment, disrupting the pathogens that cause contamination. These photon-induced changes at the molecular level cause the death of contaminating organisms or render such organisms incapable of reproduction. The gamma irradiation process does not create residuals or impart radioactivity in the processed hive equipment. The process has been used for years to sterilize imported leather goods, spices, wine corks, medical dressings and devices, pharmaceuticals, etc.

The commercial facility for gamma irradiation in our area is the Sterigenics Corporation, 75 Tilbury Road, Salem, NJ 08079. This location offers beekeepers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Delaware the opportunity to clean their known and suspect contaminated equipment.

If you are interested in participating in our irradiation program, you will need to prepare your equipment as directed below.  

•   It is the responsibility of each beekeeper to deliver his/her equipment to the irradiation facility or make arrangements to have it done by someone else. 
• Groups or multiple individuals should select a regional staging site located away from known apiaries to load the equipment on whatever common carrier they have selected. 
•  If your equipment contains any honey at all and you are sharing a pallet of combined equipment, each individual box MUST be wrapped in heavy plastic or heavy gauge plastic trash bags that are tied and taped shut.
•  You must print your full name and phone number on each piece of equipment and on a piece of duct tape fixed to the plastic or plastic bags it is wrapped in.
•   Special Note: Any hive equipment known to be contaminated with American Foul Brood MUST be tightly wrapped and taped shut in heavy gauge 4 ml plastic or double plastic bagged before it is delivered to any staging site where equipment is being combined from different beekeepers.  Single source pallets with hive equipment known to be contaminated with American Foul Brood must be palletized following all of the protocols.
  

**DO NOT send equipment with live ants, insects, mice, or mouse nests or other loose debris. It will be rejected from the load.**

•   Extract honey from the comb or be prepared to bag supers individually (to bag supers, see the attached instructions).
•    Pack frames in their respective hive boxes.
•  Use standard 4-way pallets (40” X 48”). NO SMALLER or LARGER.
•   Pallets must be in good repair and free of stones, soil and debris.

Sterigenics will no longer allow hive equipment to be stacked and wrapped on site. Therefore, you must deliver all hive equipment properly stacked and stretch wrapped and ready to be unloaded by forklift at the facility.  For processing, all collected equipment must be stacked onto standard 48″ x 40″ pallets covered with a single sheet of heavy gauge cardboard, shrink wrapped, with a top and bottom sheet of 4 mil plastic before processing by Sterigenics can occur. You must follow these necessary steps to prepare your equipment for processing:

•  Cover pallet top with a single sheet of heavy gauge cardboard.  You may not piece or tape cardboard together to cover the pallet. 

• The pallet and cardboard must be covered with a single sheet of heavy 4ml plastic that has no holes, which extends beyond the pallet on all sides by 12” which will then extend up the sides of the stacked equipment.  This is to prevent any honey that liquefies from leaking out.  Watch the video.

• Stack the hive boxes in a 6-column configuration. Supers may overhang the 48″ dimension by 1/2 inch. There can be no overhang in the 40″ dimension at all.  All cleat handles or tie down hooks that extend beyond the face of the super or brood box MUST be removed.  If equipment is delivered with cleat handles or tie down hooks that extend beyond the footprint of the pallet, that pallet cannot be processed.

• The total height of the stacked hive equipment including the pallet cannot exceed 78 inches (6’ 6”).

Transporting Equipment to Sterigenics

We need to have a minimum of 7 pallets of equipment get the lowest per pallet cost and make an irradiation “run” practical and economical. Persons who will be responsible for consolidating prepared equipment and delivering it to Sterigenics must follow the preparation and shipping rules below.  Please note: Over the years the staff at the Salem, NJ Sterigenics facility has worked very hard to accommodate our special needs and allow us to work with them on this annual event.  As a gesture of good will we have provided a 1 pound jar of local honey from each participating beekeeper to everyone on the staff at Sterigenics every year we have delivery hive equipment.  Make sure you bring a jar or send  a jar of honey for the kind folks at Sterigenics to whoever transports your hive equipment.

• Clearly label and ID all equipment on each side of the stack with a full 8.5″ x 11″ paper that has bold print on it. Tape this label to the equipment at eye level before it is shrink wrapped. (Note: If you are hauling in rain or bad weather, have extra labels on hand to insert at the loading dock in case the first set is illegible or place the labels in clear plastic sleeves before use.)
• Any pallets with combined equipment from multiple beekeeper’s must have each box labeled with the first and last name of the equipment owner on the equipment and/or the plastic wrapping of the individual boxes.
• Maximum allowable height of the stacked equipment, including the pallet, is 6 feet 6 inches tall.
• Advise Tim that a shipment is planned so that a shipment/processing date can be confirmed.
• Loading dock height trucks unload in the rear of the building, low trucks and trailers unload in front of the building.
•  For the delivery of equipment known to contain AFB and prevent reinfection; it is highly recommended to line delivery vehicle with plastic or cardboard to prevent contamination of the delivery vehicle then destroy that liner after delivery.
• Schedule your arrival on the correct date with Mark Antunes at Sterigenics Corporation, 75 Tilbury Road, Salem, NJ 08079.

Sterigenics offers three different fee structures for the irradiation of materials all based on how quickly the materials need to be irradiated.  This program uses the least expensive turnaround time which usually takes 3 – 5 business days.  Same day service is three times as expensive and 48 hour service is twice as expensive.

Please contact Tim Ferris if you have hive equipment that you wish to process at Sterigenics. Without exception, all expected processing costs for prepared pallets must be paid upon in the full amount with a certified bank check or money order made out to Sterigenics International, Inc. Note: There is a U.S. Post Office only 1/2 mile from Sterigenics where a money order may be easily purchased.

If 7 or more pallets of equipment are delivered for 2020 the cost per pallet is $214.30.  1 full pallet can accommodate 48 deeps @ $4.45 per box all with frames or 66 mediums on a pallet for about $3.30 per box.

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