Clearing Bees from Supers

[Erichalfbee]

Credit to @Swarm who has provided most of the experience.

There's been a rather fragmented discussion in the "What did you do in the Apiary?" thread about clearing supers so at a member's request here is a brief synopsis which will go in the STICKIES
Clearing supers away from the hive, rather than over one colony, is a quick way to clear a number of them with just one or two clearer boards.
You need a warm day when the bees are flying. Put a clearer on a hive stand, add supers and top with a crown board and roof. The bees will exit and return to their hive leaving the pile of supers ready to take away the next day.
I've done it and it works very well, leaving just a few bees on the frames.
You can even mix supers from different colonies. They do not fight.
If you have quite a stack you can flip another clearer upside down and put it on top. Obviously you don't put a roof on that.
Perhaps folk can add their experience.

 

[Erichalfbee]

This is the sort of clearer I use

​

 

[Cuckmere couple]

This is the sort of clearer I use

View attachment 41119​

yes, works well....i do wonder how many young bees you get in supers who dont know their way back adn therefore drift into another hive

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Credit to @Swarm who has provided most of the experience.

There's been a rather fragmented discussion in the "What did you do in the Apiary?" thread about clearing supers so at a member's request here is a brief synopsis which will go in the STICKIES
Clearing supers away from the hive, rather than over one colony, is a quick way to clear a number of them with just one or two clearer boards.
You need a warm day when the bees are flying. Put a clearer on a hive stand, add supers and top with a crown board and roof. The bees will exit and return to their hive leaving the pile of supers ready to take away the next day.
I've done it and it works very well, leaving just a few bees on the frames.
You can even mix supers from different colonies. They do not fight.
If you have quite a stack you can flip another clearer upside down and put it on top. Obviously you don't put a roof on that.
Perhaps folk can add their experience.

I'd probably take some simple precautions against a change in weather i.e. position under a canopy or use some kind of rain deflector if there's a rapid change.
In general terms of clearance and speed I've recently tried Bee Quick on a cloth with very rapid results (minutes)

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

i do wonder how many young bees you get in supers who dont know their way back

ah, that old myth - even the youngest bees orientate to the hive within days of emergence, and it's a lot longer before those bees are promoted from nurse duties to honey storing duties, so you would not expect to find them in the supers.

 

[Erichalfbee]

yes, works well....i do wonder how many young bees you get in supers who dont know their way back adn therefore drift into another hive

JBM is spot on.

 

[Amari]

In general terms of clearance and speed I've recently tried Bee Quick on a cloth with very rapid results (minutes)

Yes, this is the first season that I've used similar: benzaldehyde - much cheaper than Bee Quick and also very rapid.
https://apcpure.com/product/benzaldehyde-99-5-acs-letterbox-friendly/
Also for the first time I've used Dani's 'away from the hive' method with success.

The stimulus for my change of practice is my inability to take heavy supers off a stack, place a clearer board, and lift the boxes back.

 

[Curly green finger's]

I was wondering about space - if the colony are huge and your clearing when the flow has stopped is there any chance that robbing bees would try to get in the stack ?

 

[Cuckmere couple]

JBM is spot on.

v helpful to have de-bunked....thanks both

 

[Sutty]

Yes, this is the first season that I've used similar: benzaldehyde - much cheaper than Bee Quick and also very rapid.
https://apcpure.com/product/benzaldehyde-99-5-acs-letterbox-friendly/
Also for the first time I've used Dani's 'away from the hive' method with success.

The stimulus for my change of practice is my inability to take heavy supers off a stack, place a clearer board, and lift the boxes back.

How much benzaldehyde and how long did it take?
I looked at it but was worried it might taint the honey.

 

[Amari]

How much benzaldehyde and how long did it take?
I looked at it but was worried it might taint the honey.

5-10 minutes. Difficult to say how much because it was all too easy to pour too much on to the cloth so I now put the cloth over the mouth of the bottle and invert. I really need a dispenser of smaller volumes.
If I put the cloths back into my beemobile the residual smell lasts several days but neither I or SWMBO have detected the smell while uncapping or in the settling tank.

 

[Amari]

I was wondering about space - if the colony are huge and your clearing when the flow has stopped is there any chance that robbing bees would try to get in the stack ?

I'm sure there is that risk but Dani is the best person to answer that question.

 

[Swarm]

yes, works well....i do wonder how many young bees you get in supers who dont know their way back adn therefore drift into another hive

If you are short on clearer boards, you can move supers from one hive to be cleared over another hive and even these bees find their way home.

 

[Swarm]

I was wondering about space - if the colony are huge and your clearing when the flow has stopped is there any chance that robbing bees would try to get in the stack ?

Just like any other supers placed above clearer boards, they are isolated, make sure there are no gaps or holes and tape them up if there are.

 

[mbc]

JBM is spot on.

Sort of, drifting is a thing and disorienting a load of bees will increase it

 

[mbc]

Also perhaps a quick note to mention that though this stacking of supers from various hives to clear is generally a workable scheme, if there's any efb(or afb, cpbv or chronic nosema) in the area its best avoided.

 

[drdrday]

You need a warm day when the bees are flying.

This is what I initially thought, but my bees seem to have proved me wrong.
I cleared my last lot of supers in this way, 2-3 supers per hive, across 4 hives. I didn't combine the supers, but had a separate stack for each hive. It started raining on me as I was working, and I was pretty soaked by around 3pm when I'd finished. It rained most of the night and was predicted to rain all day the next day too, so I was expecting I'd have to put off my plans to extract straight away, and give them another day to clear.
However, by just 11am the next day the supers were surprisingly empty. One stack had a couple of dozen bees in it, but definitely not enough to stop me from extracting.
I can only think that without the heat from the brood nest below the supers started to get a little chilly, particularly overnight in the rain, so bees moved down seeking the warmth of the brood nest and only found the way out??
Anyway, might have been a fluke, but it worked for me.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I was wondering about space - if the colony are huge and your clearing when the flow has stopped is there any chance that robbing bees would try to get in the stack ?

How?
Presumably you’ve made sure there are no gaps

 

[The Poot]

This is what I initially thought, but my bees seem to have proved me wrong.
I cleared my last lot of supers in this way, 2-3 supers per hive, across 4 hives. I didn't combine the supers, but had a separate stack for each hive. It started raining on me as I was working, and I was pretty soaked by around 3pm when I'd finished. It rained most of the night and was predicted to rain all day the next day too, so I was expecting I'd have to put off my plans to extract straight away, and give them another day to clear.
However, by just 11am the next day the supers were surprisingly empty. One stack had a couple of dozen bees in it, but definitely not enough to stop me from extracting.
I can only think that without the heat from the brood nest below the supers started to get a little chilly, particularly overnight in the rain, so bees moved down seeking the warmth of the brood nest and only found the way out??
Anyway, might have been a fluke, but it worked for me.

And it’s to be assumed they found their way back to their colony and didn’t expire in the cold and rain….
I think Dani is right to suggest doing it when the weather is set fair, it seems a little tough on the bees otherwise.

 

[jimmiestan]

This is the sort of clearer I use

View attachment 41119​

Dani, how does that rhombus board work with the wee round hole in the centre?