Clearing Bees from Supers

[Erichalfbee]

Due to arthritis even kneeling down nowadays requires something to haul myself up with (such as a handy 5 bar field gate or similar) so I'd not be able to join in with such gymnastics.

I’ll send you a movie
The bees, not me.

 

[Sutty]

I’ll send you a movie
The bees, not me.

Either would be equally entertaining!

 

[pargyle]

I'd planned yesterday to start clearing... beautiful sunny day ...bees flying like it was mid summer... work got in the way and by the time I'd finished I decided it would be better today as the forecast was more of the same ! Got that wrong didn't they ?... by 10pm last night the south coast forecast had changed to dull and cloudy, showers with a stiff breeze... and so it is !

So I'm all set up ready to put the cleaners on a la Swarm...but reluctant as very few bees flying ...one hive is busy on the landing board evicting drones. That tells me something !

Luckily I've cleaned and fettled space in the workshop next to my apiary...its well insulated with power, light and water... just had to persuade Son, who has it as his electronics and engineering space, that it was in his interests to maintain domestic peace and harmony and the ability for him to cook in the kitchen !

At least now the kitchen is not full of bee kit and I can delay. I'd rather pull them apart when the weather is clement so see what tomorrow holds ....fingers crossed rain forecast for tonight so I'm going to cut the grass and score a few brownie points...

 

[The Poot]

I'd planned yesterday to start clearing... beautiful sunny day ...bees flying like it was mid summer... work got in the way and by the time I'd finished I decided it would be better today as the forecast was more of the same ! Got that wrong didn't they ?... by 10pm last night the south coast forecast had changed to dull and cloudy, showers with a stiff breeze... and so it is !

So I'm all set up ready to put the cleaners on a la Swarm...but reluctant as very few bees flying ...one hive is busy on the landing board evicting drones. That tells me something !

Luckily I've cleaned and fettled space in the workshop next to my apiary...its well insulated with power, light and water... just had to persuade Son, who has it as his electronics and engineering space, that it was in his interests to maintain domestic peace and harmony and the ability for him to cook in the kitchen !

At least now the kitchen is not full of bee kit and I can delay. I'd rather pull them apart when the weather is clement so see what tomorrow holds ....fingers crossed rain forecast for tonight so I'm going to cut the grass and score a few brownie points...

Yes, it’s dull and October like here too. I managed to get three supers off yesterday, so have been extracting today while listening to the test match. Oddly, the dozens of wasps troubling me yesterday have been conspicuous by their absence today. Odd goings on all round.
The bees are not bothering with foraging today, perhaps they’re into cricket too? (Joe Root, second test century of the series and has beaten Alistair Cook’s record today).

 

[pargyle]

When I was getting my clearers ready I found a couple of Paynes poly crownboards I didn't know I had and some rhombus clearers ... so I made a couple more clearer boards using some of the correx sheets I bought when STB closed down. In doing so ... I noticed a slight difference in some of the rhombus clearers ... some have a secondary baffle some don't. Not sure whether this will have an effect on stopping bees returning through the rhombus ? I glued a bit of correx into one that does not have the secondary baffle.

I've got a number of different flavours of clearers now ... they all seem to work !

So far I've cleared about half my supers - there were a few bees left in the stacks away from the hives but only a dozen or so. I had more trouble when some foragers found the supers when I was moving them into my extraction area.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I noticed a slight difference in some of the rhombus clearers ... some have a secondary baffle some don't. Not sure whether this will have an effect on stopping bees returning through the rhombus

no difference whatsoever

 

[pargyle]

no difference whatsoever

No . I don't think the extra baffle makes any difference...I don't think there's much difference whether the rhombus is central or in the corners either. I have some with 1" holes and one that has a 6" hole.. can't see any difference there either ! All seem to have worked well this year.

 

[The Poot]

No . I don't think the extra baffle makes any difference...I don't think there's much difference whether the rhombus is central or in the corners either. I have some with 1" holes and one that has a 6" hole.. can't see any difference there either ! All seem to have worked well this year.

I put clearers under three single supers yesterday - using the rhombus type with central holes.
Results today were comical - H5 completely empty. H3 less than six. H4 probably five hundred or more. (They looked up at me and there was a collective “what”? when I groaned.)
So I swapped one of the other clearers with that one and left the super on.

Tomorrow it’s forecast to rain heavily all day, so I don’t know when I’ll be able to remove it….

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I don't think there's much difference whether the rhombus is central or in the corners either.

I kave one clearer board with a central hole/rhombus, I often have clearer boards on for a few days (no reason apart from it's more convenient with the further out apiaries) In general, over a few seasons I have found that the bees find their way back up into the supers a lot quicker with the central hole, never had bees make their way back with the side positioned holes - in fact, had one on for over a fortnight when I missed taking the supers off the furthest hive due to the rain!!

 

[pargyle]

Yes... you may be right about that..last year I had to leave the clearer on one hive for a week and it was clear from the bees in the supers that they had worked out how to get back in. It was a clearer with a big central hole (one I picked up at auction). They are clever little beggars .. give them a bit of time and it's surprising what they can do.

I put clearers under three single supers yesterday - using the rhombus type with central holes.
Results today were comical - H5 completely empty. H3 less than six. H4 probably five hundred or more. (They looked up at me and there was a collective “what”? when I groaned.)
So I swapped one of the other clearers with that one and left the super on.

Tomorrow it’s forecast to rain heavily all day, so I don’t know when I’ll be able to remove it….

I made the mistake a few years ago of putting the clearer boatd on upside down .... similar result ! Why do you think yours didn't clear ?

 

[Codford]

I have just finished putting Rhombus Clearer Boards on 4 of my hives, unfortunately the weather is now looking atrocious for the next couple of days (heavy continuous rain).

Question for collective wisdom of the Forum: how long can I leave them on before the bees work them out and start returning back into the super? It looks like I might have to wait until Saturday…

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It looks like I might have to wait until Saturday…

you should get away with it - how are escapes configured?

 

[Codford]

you should get away with it - how are escapes configured?

2” central hole into a single large Rhombus with 2 small exits.

 

[Swarm]

A couple of days? The supers should be empty.

 

[Swarm]

I'll be knocking up a few more of these over the miserable months, great clearer boards.

 

[rolande]

I'll be knocking up a few more of these over the miserable months, great clearer boards.
View attachment 41195

Seen those on the Steppler YouTube channel. So clearly you've had good success with them?

 

[The Poot]

Yes... you may be right about that..last year I had to leave the clearer on one hive for a week and it was clear from the bees in the supers that they had worked out how to get back in. It was a clearer with a big central hole (one I picked up at auction). They are clever little beggars .. give them a bit of time and it's surprising what they can do.
I made the mistake a few years ago of putting the clearer boatd on upside down .... similar result ! Why do you think yours didn't clear ?

I really don’t have a clue. I’ll inspect the clearer tomorrow to see if there are any blockages, as it’s the third time it’s been used recently.

 

[Swarm]

Seen those on the Steppler YouTube channel. So clearly you've had good success with them?

Yes, I made some a couple of years ago and they work a treat, more of a fuss to make but well worth it.
Mind you, this old thing of Bill's keeps doing the business ...

 

[Newbeeneil]

I use many different types, including Rhombus and RP’s design from the Dave Cushman site that I made in my early days.
One of the ones I used today was a crown board with a 200mm square made of 10x20 strip with a 10mm hole at each corner and a piece of insect mesh stapled to it which was left to me by a Beekeeping pal who unfortunately died 2 yrs ago.
This clearer was cheap and easy to make but cleared 2 full supers within 12 hrs. Most impressed.

 

[Erichalfbee]

At least nobody here is using a blower!