bees refusing to leave the super for clearing

[Buzzo]

hi
using a porter escape and after 24 hours about 2/3 of them are still there . double checked the queen wasnt with them .

Any ideas?

Thanks.

B.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

hi
using a porter escape and after 24 hours about 2/3 of them are still there . double checked the queen wasnt with them .

Any ideas?

Thanks.

B.

Throw away the porter bee escapes and use an alternative that actually works. Rhombus clearers are effective, Bee Quick, a Goose wing or a bee brush all work. Some people use a blower. I don't know why porter bee escapes are still being sold.

 

[Buzzo]

thanks, just ordered a rhombus.

 

[blackcloud]

Two or three would be better

 

[hemo]

Porters need chucking , adapting boards is easily done for a better rapid/faster clearing process.

Either use those rhombus's or look a tthe various diy options on Dave Cushmans old site.

 

[ericbeaumont]

diy options on Dave Cushmans old site

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/clearerboards.html

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Any ideas?

easy - porter escapes are shaite, the springs are probably to tightly set so the bees can't get through, chuck them in the bin and make yourself a rhombus clearer board

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I don't know why porter bee escapes are still being sold.

the dinosaurs love them - it's probably written in stone at the BBKA

 

[madasafish]

You also need warm weather . Over 15C ( Guide only) or bees will be lethargic and refuse to move.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I find the opposite, I find they go down much quicker in the colder months and are slower to go down midsummer as there is little need to cluster up at night

 

[blackcloud]

There are loads of designs -around it's up to the Beeks personal preference
Anything other than porters will work fine as long as there are lots of exits and,like Jbm says,the bees have a good enough incentive to descend.
I bought a lorry load of rhomb(i) in a B.E. sale and didn't want to cut them all up so I did my boards thus

 

[alancooper]

hi
using a porter escape and after 24 hours about 2/3 of them are still there . double checked the queen wasnt with them .

Any ideas?

Thanks.

B.

I find that putting a5cm eke under the clearer board gives a good rate of emptying when hives are crowded

 

[Moobee]

hi
using a porter escape and after 24 hours about 2/3 of them are still there . double checked the queen wasnt with them .

Any ideas?

Thanks.

B.

A super full of bees needs to go somewhere….. use a deep eke or another super underneath.

 

[enrico]

If you use an eke or super under the clearer board as suggested then don't leave it there for many days as you will get wild comb. I put my eke above the clearer board

 

[Gilberdyke John]

If you use an eke or super under the clearer board as suggested then don't leave it there for many days as you will get wild comb. I put my eke above the clearer board

Eh? The whole point of putting it UNDER the clearer board is to create space for the displaced bees.

 

[Swarm]

I'm putting clearer boards on today, we have a variety of different types, including Bill's old porter escape boards with no eke. Those porters consistently clear better than the others and it was the same with the Spring harvest, clearing three supers overnight with few, if any, bees left in the supers.
See what happens tomorrow.

 

[enrico]

Eh? The whole point of putting it UNDER the clearer board is to create space for the displaced bees.

In my experience the holes that get blocked are the ones under the frames that allow the bees into the rhombus, hence the eke under the super being cleared. If you happen to have a frame immediately across the hole it slows the process down. The exit holes are no problem as they only let one bee out at a time and they just filter downwards. Try leaving the eke on for three or four days and see what happens! I speak from experience when I put the eke under the rhombus by mistake this year and then for various reasons didn't remove the board and the eke. I am not saying your way is wrong I am just warning others not to leave it like that for long.

 

[Swarm]

After an exhausting day removing supers I can confirm that, yet again, Bill's porter escape won hands down. Single rhombus, half rhombus and the Canadian clearers, with either a two or three inch eke all had a few bees in each super, maybe two dozen or so in some but the porter had cleared completely. Three supers cleared overnight into the partially capped super that was below them, no eke.
It happens every year

The offensive item...

 

[Sutty]

My experience is that the porters work fine, and better than my "8-way" board.
But there are various versions of porters and I don't think they are all equal!!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Well folk change their mind here all the time. Where Porters are ok this year, last year rhombus were the bees knees. Beekeepers’ prerogative?