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    got some popycarb

    Exactly so. So to frame a crown board so that it does not get propolised down to the frames below you need 2 sides 18mm wide and 2 of 12 or 13 (1/2 inch.) It's the same dimensions as the bottom of all National boxes (which should fit exactly over the box below, not overlapping the frames) that...
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    got some popycarb

    18mm (wide)... So you are not on Nationals then? My Nationals have timber of 2 different widths round the top. Look at your top-bars and I suspect that you will see lots of propolis (collected unnecessarily by your bees when they could have been collecting nectar instead) where they have...
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    Manipulation Cloths

    I couldn't agree more. Mine are made from old white canvas/sailcloth and I don't think they are any less effective than the first (black) ones I was given by a beekeeper who started during the 2nd world war! I wouldn't go to my hives without the two with battens fitted (for working across the...
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    got some popycarb

    Why not frame it to match your 2 hive box-top timber thicknesses (with a bee-space)? That way the only propolis to be collected and applied is 4 times a single seam about 17 1/2 inches along each side. (I mean 2 sides 16mm wide and 2 at 10 mm - if you are on Nationals.) Beware that plastic will...
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    Bait box design...

    Having converted to 14 x 12 boxes quite a few years ago I now use pairs of old standard National (i.e. double) brood boxes as bait hives. A retired (but not too manky) brood frame acts as a lure and for years one on the garage roof worked without fail, as did others scattered round the area -...
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    Honey Importers.... help!!!

    Down the drain is nothing to do with it. It's businesses using imported honey and not washing out the containers before releasing them. Round here we have seen AFB outbreaks from both a honey re-packer in Stockport and a user of honey in the manufacture of "munchie bars" in S Cheshire...
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    Adding supers early

    Working backwards, I also get average yields around 80 kg per hive (without any migratory beekeeping , probably [I]because[I] I think what my bees would want in nature. What we call dummy boards are blank insulated frames, rather than the hive partitions you describe. I note that there is no...
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    Adding supers early

    "Frames without foundation" is either empty space or a top-bar hive. The simple question was why do we assume a dummy board is better than an empty brood or honey comb for providing an insulating outer edge to a brood nest? Regarding someone's comments who admits he couldn't cope with A level...
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    Adding supers early

    1) There are several comments both here and on other forums (gardening as well as beekeeping) about the lovely weather yesterday, when preliminary hive operations were possible. 2) People have been reporting swarms in April in recent years... now when do you think the brood-rearing (and...
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    Just a gentle caution at this time of year, especially to you beginners.

    Try reading the post more carefully: I said GARDENING in shirtsleeves, and with bees flying vigorously it's not too soon to put a super on. Some people deliberately leave lots of supers on hives right through the winter, and in the wild a colony might have several years worth of stores (i.e...
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    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    So what? Our past branch chairman (who like me gets big crops) regularly says - I thought for the benefit of beginners but maybe others might benefit too - "Early in the season you add supers FOR THE BEES. Later in the year they are for the honey crop (and at that stage don't forget that a...
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    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    Sound boxes and small entrances won't let draughts in, my varroa floors have the slot over the board filled and are on enclosed hive stands, queen excluders - with some wax between the wires - will reduce convection above the cluster (and that's not so different to a wild colony with unoccupied...
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    Wasp Queens

    ... and making sure any weak stock or nuc has a suitably restricted entrance - even down to a single bee-width (plus watching your hives just in case.) I believe that wasps only start looking for sugar when their brood nest dwindles in mid- to late-summer, as up to then the brood (fed with...
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    Wasp Queens

    I also saw a queen wasp today, but I was happy(!) also the first bumble bee queen. I'm very grateful for the work all those millions of wasps put in taking cabbage white eggs and caterpillars off my greens through early and mid-summer... A
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    What did you do in the Apiary today?

    Now (and next) Observed entrances this morning (plenty of pollen coming in),easy to see because of slight congestion from entrance blocks now back in to help heat conservation/ brood rearing. Topped up the the drinkers with rainwater (potting compost in gravel trays, up to a dozen bees on each...
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