The effect of an admixture of boron oxide B2O3 on the superconducting properties of the bismuth-containing 2212 phase is investigated. It is found that boron doping improves the superconducting transition characteristics of Bi2Sr2Ca1Cu2Oy and Bi1.8Pb0.2Sr2Ca1Cu2Oy samples slowly cooled in a furnace. As the boron content in quenched samples of the 2212 phase increases, Tc and the relative volume of the superconducting fraction are observed to decrease monotonically. Boron doping of the 2212 phase decreases the lattice parameter c.