Beekeeping on the cheap. Some tips and please add yours.

[Poly Hive]

two things against that.

1. Weight. A super is handled many times before extracting and so is a serious factor.

2. Climate. Our supers are that size for a good reason: our honey flows are unpredictable at best. Non existent at worst.

PH

 

[mbc]

3. some extractors wont take brood frames tangentially

 

[oliver90owner]

JamezF,

I'm just trying to work out if I can cut the mortices for the bottom bars easily

Options, options! Alternatives above plus....

If you are going to re-machine, think router table or saw them out. May be easier to re-machine for the single top shoulder joint (but not sure of the length of the shaped section). No real problem, probably clamped together and machined as multiples.

You could just buy in frame side bars, or machine up new ones....Options, options!

RAB

 

[countryman]

brood frames to supers EASY just lop a couple inches off, slot and put back together again, like all my kit i make it even down to my spinner (8 frame manual going to electric this year with adition of motor)saved hundreds on that one, only bits i buy at suppliers are gimp pins foundation and wire excluders

 

[countryman]

rab i personaly use a table saw set up fence to distance height of blade out is 5 mm 4 cuts one setup by running through and spinning round move fence over a bit repeat till you have slots measuring 5x5mm

 

[Queens59]

How did that work for you? I want to try two frames thus in one super but if it works with more I would give it a go.

Not bad - the bees pulled them nicely, but you have to be careful tilting to inspect as they can wobble or even fall (although haven't to me yet).

 

[oliver90owner]

Countryman,

I am pleased you use a saw. I might do, too, but the router is a powerful tool for machining timber, too. Spindle moulder and wobble saw might be an even better choice.

Not much point telling me how to do it as it is not my problem. And wouldn't be a problem for me anyhow.

I daresay I have a blade knocking around that has a kerf of 5mm, so possibly not even a need to machine twice. Options, options.

 

[dpearce4]

Countryman,

I am pleased you use a saw. I might do, too, but the router is a powerful tool for machining timber, too. Spindle moulder and wobble saw might be an even better choice.

Not much point telling me how to do it as it is not my problem. And wouldn't be a problem for me anyhow.

I daresay I have a blade knocking around that has a kerf of 5mm, so possibly not even a need to machine twice. Options, options.

no idea what ur talking about RAB but sounds impressive.

 

[JamezF]

Countryman,

I am pleased you use a saw. I might do, too, but the router is a powerful tool for machining timber, too. Spindle moulder and wobble saw might be an even better choice.

A spindle moulder might be fun to own, but I'd never get the use out of it to justify it. I really must get a new table saw though. Our last one died a while back (motor completely gave up the ghost) and I've not yet got around to replacing it. My father in law keeps telling me that a small bandsaw is just as good. I keep not telling him he's talking rubbish. I think he just wants a bandsaw as a toy.

I daresay I have a blade knocking around that has a kerf of 5mm, so possibly not even a need to machine twice. Options, options.

That's a stone wheel from a disc cutter

James

 

[JamezF]

two things against that.

1. Weight. A super is handled many times before extracting and so is a serious factor.

A fair point. I believe some commercial operators use smaller than standard supers to help with weight. At this point in my life I'm not desperately concerned about the weight -- I regularly carry around pairs of 20 or 25kg bags of animal feed -- but it would be a pain for other people who might help me and I'm really not sure brood frames would fit in my extractor.

2. Climate. Our supers are that size for a good reason: our honey flows are unpredictable at best. Non existent at worst.

I thought that too, but then I began to wonder how well that stands up to scrutiny. Times change, bees change, the environment changes. I'd guess that forage distribution is a fair bit different now from how it was eighty(?) years ago when the National hive was designed. A number of people now consider a National brood box too small, for instance, when presumably it was originally thought to be about the right size. That said, of the hives in relatively common use in the UK the supers generally seem to be around the same size. That could be just that larger ones are generally considered too heavy though.

I might perhaps try standard broods as supers as a bit of an experiment, but I think I'd start with a bias towards it not being a great idea.

James

 

[the naked beekeeper]

Any chance you could mention how you make em?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Give up beekeeping

 

[Poly Hive]

To make a CB.

Buy 9mm ply. Cut to size. Or ask vendor to do the cutting.

Buy lath from a moulding vendor. If you see a rack in a DIY place if it is Burdbidge they will stock it. Usually 9mm thick and 10 wide or so. Glue and pin round the ply and thats it.

PH

 

[fatshark]

Use a sheet of thick clear polythene as a crown board. The sort they wrap new sofas in is good ... and I found metres of it discarded in a country lane near my apiary. One persons inconsiderate littering is a beekeepers good fortune.

Check skips ... They're replacing air conditioning ducting at my office and there is lots of thin aluminium sheet for nuc roofs.

Always make your own ekes and prepare off cuts of poly to line them with - leaving a hole to take a block of fondant.

 

[oliver90owner]

Any chance you could mention how you make em?

Mine are even simpler than those of PH.

I cut 9mm ply into 460mm squares.

Maybe choosing top bee space was a good money saver.

 

[Jimmy]

Trade in wax and buy foundation through your local BKA. Likewise for jars.
Borrow/hire extraction equipment also.

 

[JamezF]

Borrow/hire extraction equipment also.

I used to do this. The problem is that everyone seems to want it at the same time

James

 

[Nic Rhodes]

letting the bees draw their own comb from a starter strip saves on both foundation costs but also guarantees wax with no residues.

not having a queen excluder for each hive will also save money. Given a suitably size brood box(es) will negate the need for QE in most cases and it comes into the category of a modern accessory that isn't really essential.

 

[JamezF]

letting the bees draw their own comb from a starter strip saves on both foundation costs but also guarantees wax with no residues.

Do you do this, and if so, on what size frame?

I've not tried it, but I wonder whether (unless you're using a Dartington or something similar) you'd have to use a dummy board if you let the bees build their own comb because they won't necessarily build it perfectly vertical and without the extra room provided by the dummy board you'd never be able to get them out for inspection in one piece.

Personally I think I'd have concerns about the strength of "wild" comb in something as big as a 14x12 frame.

not having a queen excluder for each hive will also save money. Given a suitably size brood box(es) will negate the need for QE in most cases and it comes into the category of a modern accessory that isn't really essential.

Quite a few people have talked about this. I guess you need the brood chamber(s) to be sufficiently large to accommodate all the pollen which might take a bit of experimentation.

James

 

[Queens59]

I've not tried it, but I wonder whether (unless you're using a Dartington or something similar) you'd have to use a dummy board if you let the bees build their own comb because they won't necessarily build it perfectly vertical and without the extra room provided by the dummy board you'd never be able to get them out for inspection in one piece.

Personally I think I'd have concerns about the strength of "wild" comb in something as big as a 14x12 frame.

I use the usual nationals but Buckfast do it and they operate Langstroth...You do have to be careful inspecting/moving - but they seem to do an even job, although not always too keen on bottom corners...