if that landing board was not there probably 30% of them bees would be dead...if they fall short on a tree trunk they can just climb up so a bit different to a beehive on a stand...each to there own but from several years of sat viewing the entrance to a hive i think i will stick with the landing boards just to save a good few bees from dying
As for alighting boards, they are not needed by the bees. Are they on trees for natural colonies, of course not. Bees will happily land on the face of the hive and run down and in.
None of my hives have them now or pretty much ever. I have had the odd one that came with a colony I bought in but they very soon were sawn off as they take up valuable space on the transportation. If the bees are not being moved then no doubt they are interesting but from a practical point of view they are a nuisance.
When I started I was keen for bees to return and I'd rescue any grounded or stuck to the stand and put them back in the entrance. Eventually I thought this may be a waste of time and not a good idea: perhaps it worked against nature. Was the small loss of bees (that to my eyes was unfair or ruthless) positive for the colony? What if it removed weak or old or diseased bees from circulation and so protected the colony? Anyway, at that point I thought it time to interfere less.
Setting that aside, as PH says, from a practical point of view the landing board is a nuisance, not only because its lack saves space in a trailer, but because it saves on work and wood and money and something else to rot or fix when knocked about. I recall some pages back that Beefriendly used Brother Adam's vast landing decks as proof of the value of the board, so I had a poke around Youtube and came across an old Dutch
film from the 6os or 70s which revealed more of the story (there's also a photo of Br Adam with Barbara Cartland at 40, Instrumental Insemination in slo-mo at about 34, and a hive inspection at 43 with none of them wearing protection, so plenty to watch over Xmas) but it looks like the hive entrances project about
one inch at 2.20 (coincidentally, about
the same as the new Abelo poly floor!) and again at 4.40 where they unload them at the heather; the big board is added at 5 but presumably it was a temporary fixture, otherwise it would rot pretty quickly.
There's another good video of Phil Chandler describing
the restoration of a genuine Br Adam apiary, with original concrete bases, wooden stands, BBS Dadant and floor with hooks (3.35) for the temporary landing boards. Phil and the Abbey beekeepers (2005) didn't think much of the boards -
mouse ramps - but as Br Adam was
all about efficiency (6.50) the very good logical reason that BF mentioned (post 114) may be found at 13.30, when Phil describes the strong winds blowing up the hill. Instead of the boards Phil intends to plant a mixed native hedge to help the bees struggle home.
We use our local paper, most weeks it could go in without being read.
