Clearing bees reluctant to clear a super

[pargyle]

You should know by now if the queen is in the super. There will be eggs. That make extracting difficult anyway so I would just leave them as they are! Take the honey off next year if there is any left!
E

It was absolutely full of capped honey but I'll find out tonight- weather is clearing after 4pm and sun + 20 degrees forecast... rainfall at present and sky looks like the end of the world coming !

 

[Swarm]

SHake out frame by frame with helper holding umbrella.
(been there ,done that)

Me too, make sure your veil is done up, mine wasn't.

 

[Finman]

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Shake the bees off.

.

 

[pargyle]

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Shake the bees off.

.

As always .. master of understatement .. you make it sound so simple .. I've just got in from work, the sun has gone in, cloudy, breezy, light drizzle ... I fear I'm in for an interesting time ...

Here goes ...

 

[For want of a better word]

As always .. master of understatement .. you make it sound so simple .. I've just got in from work, the sun has gone in, cloudy, breezy, light drizzle ... I fear I'm in for an interesting time ...

Here goes ...

You need the new formula Beekeepers Golden bravery pills... £9.99 for a packet of three plus P&P!
Chons da

 

[Swarm]

As always .. master of understatement .. you make it sound so simple .. I've just got in from work, the sun has gone in, cloudy, breezy, light drizzle ... I fear I'm in for an interesting time ...

Here goes ...

As I said, do your veil up. It was September, almost dark and raining when I found the bees hadn't cleared.
All things considered, they weren't that bad but once I sensed they were in my veil, I knew I wasn't going to get away with being a plonker.
Good luck.

 

[Finman]

As always .. master of understatement .. you make it sound so simple .. I've just got in from work, the sun has gone in, cloudy, breezy, light drizzle ... I fear I'm in for an interesting time ...

Here goes ...

It is day tomorrow too

 

[pargyle]

Well ..that went better than I thought. I had put my new 'Paynes Poly clearer board' on last night and I reckon about half the bees had gone down into the brood box. Still quite a few in there but nowhere near as many. Took it a frame at a time .. shook them onto the landing board and put the cleared frames into a spare super .. no sign of the queen but one frame had a very small patch of well formed larvae in one corner and about half a dozen capped brood cells .... so I can only assume that she'd been up there before I put the clearer on and it was that small patch of what would have been eggs that was anchoring some bees in there.

The bees were well behaved and I left a super above an eke with the frame with some brood in it .. scored the cappings and hopefully they will clear things up .. there was one other frame that was only partially capped so I let them have that as well. Bit of a reward for their good behaviour.

I had finished and put it all back together and there was just one bee bothering me .. banging against the veil and buzzing... I walked to the other side of the garden, still banging against the veil and buzzing... it was then that I realised she was INSIDE the veil .. very gently unzipped and eased it off .. and she came straight at me and stung me on the side of my head ! A couple of Piriteze and some AH ointment and hopefully I'll survive without too much swelling.

I knew it was all going too well ...

I was well zipped up so I've no idea how she got in .. I think I'll be looking for a new jacket for Christmas ...

8 very fat frames of honey to spin out now and try and restore some domestic harmony ...

 

[Swarm]

Told you, LOL. Once inside there is never a happy ending unless you manage to squish her.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Told you, LOL. Once inside there is never a happy ending unless you manage to squish her.

I agree, not so easily done when you have 4 in there. I managed to squish 2 before the others did some Botox work to my forehead!

 

[pargyle]

Told you, LOL. Once inside there is never a happy ending unless you manage to squish her.

Yehhh ... and I took notice .. and she STILL got inside the veil .. I reckon she must have crawled up inside my jacket as the elastic around the bottom is getting a bit loose .. can't see anywhere else she got in.

Fortunately, doesn't currently seem to be much reaction to the sting ..

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

the elastic around the bottom is getting a bit loose ..

Always bad news when the elastic around your bottom fails - can lead to a very embarassing case of fallout, especially if wearing shorts

 

[bobba]

No one has commented on my (probably very bad) idea

"Basically the idea is to make the super cold so the bees wont want to stay there. So I as thinking of making a tall eke with mesh on the sides to allow loads of ventilation. then put it above the super."

I assume one has commented because you all think its a pile of poo and are probably aware of some obvious reason as to why it wouldn't work!

I know you guys are probably sick of hearing terrible ideas from noobs like myself. But I am relay curious as to why it would not work? So if anyone has time to school a noob I would appreciate it.

I relay enjoyed reading your last post pargyle. When putting my suit on last week I noticed a bee inside the veil (last used the day before). I thought maybe she was dead, but when I gave the suit a little shake she flew off. Maybe this is what happened to you. I now check my suit for stray bees before storing it or putting it on.

 

[Erichalfbee]

No one has commented on my (probably very bad) idea

"Basically the idea is to make the super cold so the bees wont want to stay there. So I as thinking of making a tall eke with mesh on the sides to allow loads of ventilation. then put it above the super."

The bees refused to leave the super because as pargyle pointed out there was brood there.
In winter the reason you don't leave the QX in under a super of stores is because with the queen and any brood in the brood box the bees will not move away from her and if they have eaten all the other stores will die millimetres from the honey in the super if they are clustered.
if the QX is not there the cluster will move slowly into the stores.
If your box is warm and the winter is mild then the bees move about freely anyway.
As an aside....I don't see my bees cluster really nowadays with mild winters and living in well insulated hives

 

[For want of a better word]

No one has commented on my (probably very bad) idea

"Basically the idea is to make the super cold so the bees wont want to stay there. So I as thinking of making a tall eke with mesh on the sides to allow loads of ventilation. then put it above the super."

I assume one has commented because you all think its a pile of poo and are probably aware of some obvious reason as to why it wouldn't work!

I know you guys are probably sick of hearing terrible ideas from noobs like myself. But I am relay curious as to why it would not work? So if anyone has time to school a noob I would appreciate it.

I relay enjoyed reading your last post pargyle. When putting my suit on last week I noticed a bee inside the veil (last used the day before). I thought maybe she was dead, but when I gave the suit a little shake she flew off. Maybe this is what happened to you. I now check my suit for stray bees before storing it or putting it on.

No problem for you to test out your hypotheses and let us know the results.
We have a CO2 fire extinguisher that has on occasions been used to cool bearings etc to fit into brake drums, crank cases etc... one could be utilised to cool your super?

Chons da

 

[enrico]

If I put an eke with mesh round it I think all the bees from miles around might be interested in the idea, and the wasps. Try it and take a photo!
E

 

[Swarm]

If I put an eke with mesh round it I think all the bees from miles around might be interested in the idea, and the wasps. Try it and take a photo!
E

 

[bobba]

Thanks guys.

I thought the extra ventilation would help clear queen pheromone too - so in my head this idea was getting better and better!

So thanks for setting me straight and possibly saving me from a failed experiment.

 

[Finman]

Thanks guys.

I thought the extra ventilation would help clear queen pheromone too - so in my head this idea was getting better and better!

So thanks for setting me straight and possibly saving me from a failed experiment.

Rule of eternal learning: life teaches

 

[Finman]

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It is typical in my hives that bees do not move away via cleaning board in autumn.
Then just shake them.

If you put an extracted frame into the the box, it activates the bees , and they want to carry honey inside the hive. Try that