[momma1926]

New to this forum. If there is already a thread to follow, please direct me.

Given that it has been neglected for 3 years, how should I begin to clean it up?

It looks nothing as bad as some of the videos I have seen of 1 year old deadout hives.

Thank you.

 

[Gypsi]

Probably other hives robbed most of the assets, if you have any good comb for restarting a hive, brush off, put in a plastic or paper sack (to reduce mess) and put in freezer for a few days to kill any unwanted occupants. A stiff brush will cleanup woodware, and you'll want to repair or repaint.

I don't know if this thread will help you: Allocating Deadout resources to new packages.

 

[MarkJP]

If there was a lot of wax moth damage, you can still save the wooden ware. Just clean it up good like mentioned above. Wax moths don't survive freezing temps, so you don't have to worry about them reinfesting your hive if you put new foundation and bees in. Normally a strong hive can limit wax moth infestation during the year. I just chuck the old foundation and start fresh.