No beekeeper would just dump foul brood hives. They Must be burned! The equipment itself is worth a grand! Go get a suit at a local supply (a tyvek coverall will do) get permission from the dump (they will be glad to get rid of them) and reassemble the hives. Transport them to a safe place in a pickup, and open the hives, ONE at a time (open them all at the same time and they will fight) Recover all the hive equipment, and use the broken stuff as parts, to fix others.
This is probably from the family of a beekeeper that passed, or moved to a home, and the family did not share his passion. You can see pictures of foul brood online to be certain, but I have never seen this many hives infected at once.
There is likely a local beekeeper club that can advise, and maybe even help you move them. You are too far away for me to help directly but I will be happy to advise from here.
I will go and see if I can have a look when I am off work on Friday. It was the only real beekeeper in town that threw them there, as the attendant watched him do it. Unless there could be something else wrong with them. I have to go to town Friday anyhow, so I'll pick up a Tyvek suit and at least get some close-up photos to send you.
I really appreciate the help.
The equipment is worth cash, I do NOT understand why he would toss them! A beekeeper would Burn Foul Brood so scavenging bees would Not spread it!
You may find that the bees on the equipment are cleaning all the leftover honey off of it. and If that is the case, you likely will not need a suit. once the hive body is set up, you can add lemon grass oil, to lure in wild swarms.
I will wait to see the pictures.
:)We went there the other day but it was burned. I'm guessing that it was because of the bees. They burn the wood pile once a month and this was the second time this month.
Sad, they just burned a grand, that is a really expensive fire!
>:(That would have given you a good starter pac.