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I do not like bees crawling anywhere on the inside of my clothes! The complaint I have with a full suit is that it requires much more effort to climb into it, than the effort required to put on a jacket. What I would like to achieve is protection from the bees, but with simplicity of protective...

You are not the first person to think about the possible advantages of a shelter roof for your apiary. The type of weather you have in your locality would have an important influence on the design of your shelter. Are you trying to give protection against strong winds? Or severe heat in...

Are 6 frame radials better than 10? If you numbered the slots in a 10-frame extractor (from 1 to 10) a bit like the numbers on a clock face, you could also spin 6 or 8 frames at a time. To spin 6 frames, you could use slots 1,2,3, and 6,7,8, and keep the extractor balanced. Similarly, you...

I have a full-body suit, but I have been contemplating getting a jacket, because It would be so much easier to get into than a full suit. You asked, "How do you stop bees crawling up inside the suit from the back when you bend forwards?" I wonder whether a belt, fitted firmly around the waist...

Thank you Janet for your response. You said, "be careful you don't spoil your washing machine". I would suggest that washing machines should be used for washing clothes - and not for waxy filter cloths! I agree with all those who caution / warn against processing wax inside the home, and who...

Here in Australia we are having our last few days of official summer, although here in Melbourne it has been much milder than some of our summers in recent years. I find it refreshing to see these light-hearted comments, as Spring is making its first appearances in the northern hemisphere. I...

I made this discovery quite "by accident", and had not known it previously. I found reference to the bleaching of wax by sunshine just very recently, and the article suggested flaking or grating the wax to expose a larger surface area of wax to the sunshine. It would seem that sheets of wax...

Thank you for pointing out that I managed to leave out one very important little word - "don't". I am sorry that I did not proof-read my comment carefully enough. I meant to say, and I am sure that you understood it, was: The moral of the story might be to make sure that you "don't" let the...

Philip, please read my post again, and read it carefully! I know that a wax fire would be rather dangerous, and probably of the same danger level as other flammable liquid fires. I hope that everyone who uses cooking oil to do "deep fry" cooking has an appropriate fire extinguisher in their...

It does not really matter how many Blue Ribbons you have. And thank you for acknowledging my expertise. You will have noticed that my comments were not just about beeswax. I also talked about other combustible material, namely cooking oil. Facts are facts. The fact is that I have been unable...

Just a few days ago I wrote a somewhat detailed commentary (letter #20 in this discussion thread), on the method which I have used to purify beeswax. I wish to use this wax to make new foundation sheets for honey frames. Quite a number of people have added further comments to this discussion...

I would like to share some information concerning the melting and rendering of beeswax. As a fairly new beekeeper I have not had access to very much wax, and have therefore regarded every bit of it as precious, even old brood comb. Most of the information I have found, both on this forum and on...

Thank you Philip for a really constructive and helpful piece of advice.

There is a very easy way in which you could determine the size of the bees in a hive. I am not proposing something which would normally be part of a hive, but rather a method to enable you to discover the size of a bee, rather than to measure it. We all know that queen excluders have a...

I am attaching two photos, but with a dummy mannequin. One of the photos is of my bee suit veil. The other photo is of my own design, which consists of a cape which sits over my shoulders, with a veil and hat. This veil is very convenient because it can be fitted over my head (or removed from...

I agree that a round hat should not NEED anything. The facts remain, in my case the veil did touch my face, and also the back of my head, at least some of the time, depending on the particular movements I made. The stings I received through the veil were painful, and stings on the face are not...

It is so important to make sure that the veil is kept clear of a beekeeper's face. In my experience there have been occasions when bees have been feisty, even though they have been placid on other occasions. Perhaps this discussion thread should include comments about experiences and/or...

I forgot to mention in my previous post (about bees being able to chew) - bees can chew rubber bands. I was able to collect a swarm very recently, and they set about making new comb very quickly. I used rubber bands to hold this new comb into position in a honey frame, and within a couple of...

Can bees bite? Yes, they can. Some time ago, I used some fibreglass insect screen in a hive base, to restrict the bees, and they chewed it out.

You mentioned "Douglas Fir" - I think that is another name for what we call "Öregon" in Australia. If we are talking about the same species of timber, I would not be using it for hive boxes. It is strong and durable when used in house construction, but it does not do particularly well if...