Clearing bees reluctant to clear a super

[pargyle]

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.

It's a very good idea to check your bee suit before you put it on and an even better one to check it for strays AFTER you take it off ... 'er indoors freaks out when a single bee escapes in to the house .. in fairness, a single bee away from the hive and in unfamiliar circumstances can be a bit Kamikaze so there is some justification.

Your idea of making a super cool is a very bad idea:

1. All that would happen is the bees would cluster to try and keep warm .. they don't have a mechanism to move towards warmth ..movement in a cold hive is driven by their desire for food .. they will, as a cluster, move through the hive a frame at a time - if they come a break in the food stored they can stop moving and starve (Look up Isolation starvation). One of the major advantages of well insulated hives in winter is that the 'cluster', if at all a cluster, is a very loose one so bees can move around the hive to locate stores.

2. Queen pheremone, honey and bees in general provide very powerful scents for bees to follow .. bees have a sense of smell far in excess of that of dogs for instance .. 100 times the ability of humans.

https://beekeepercenter.com/can-bees-smell/#tab-con-4

If you provide an intense source of any smell that would attrract bees (and in particular honey) you would have every bee within sniffing distance (2 miles by some estimates) finding your honey and trying to get at it.


We never tire of new ideas on here.. and new beekeepers occasionally provide thought provoking innovations .. some have merit, some show an embrionic knowledge of some of the finer points of bee behaviour and physiology and some we can all have a quiet laugh about (but most of us have had some stupid ideas at some point so we won't be laughing too loudly !) .. but don't worry I know some long time beekeepers who demonstrate a knowledge of their bees far below that of some new(ish) beekeepers on here.