I sometimes use a cover cloth - but it is just a double layer of curtain backing fabric. How large should the bits of wood be at either end of your more professional cover cloth?
the cover cloths I use are actually cut down from a bigger piece of scrap fabric. I made them wide enough to completely cover the width of the box and long enough to fully cover a super. The bits of wood - battens - I got from a timber yard scrap bin, they were used as spacers in stacks of timber. They're a bit narrower than the width of the cover cloth.
No need to bother making them fit exactly, and a cheap tea towel will probably do just as well, just make sure the channels aren't too narrow for the strips of wood used as weights. Wash every time used (with bee suit) and roll them up to store.
If I use 9 frames then I find it difficult to get them evenly spaced and once they made a sheet of wild comb between the frames where I forgot to straighten them - which was quite an achievement!
Just push the frames back together so the hoffman shoulders are touching, then the spacing will be correct. Slot a dummy frame into the gap at the end.
In order to reduce the wax between frames I have recently put a light smear of vaseline on the top of the frames, but am careful that I do not to put on the lugs.
Vaseline only on the frame rests, if you put it on the frames it'll make them slippery and/or difficult to grip if you're wearing plastic/latex/nitrile gloves.
I really could not manage without smoke, it makes all the difference and I have thought of not using gloves but I would need calm bees that have never been jolted. I am nervous my nature. but I love the bees. If I get stung through my glove I remove the sting and smoke the area to mask the alarm chemical. Both this hive and the previous one were perfectly behaved until I jolted them, so change in temperament seems immediate. Yes I should get a mentor. So what should I do to the hive? Is the only option to move it away? I usually inspect every week. How long should I wait before I inspect it again?
There's no reason to stop using smoke, just don't use too much. Lift the plastic cover and puff some smoke into the top of the box before you do anything else. Leave them for a few minutes to settle onto the frames and then begin your inspection.
Have a bucket of washing soda handy, so you can wash your gloves if you get stung. No need to stop wearing gloves, they stop your fingers getting too sticky and are easier to throw away than hands!
Yes to a mentor, if not then try to get a bee buddy - another beekeeper who will help you, and you can help them too. Shared experience helps a lot.
Sometimes the frames between boxes get stuck together and I have the same problem - I shall try rotating the top box a bit before lifting it off.
If the bees build comb between the bottom of one frame and the top of the one beneath it then the frame can seem heavy and can jolt upwards when lifted.
Try to get somebody to check the beespace between the boxes, and always make sure the frames are pushed together in the box - so the hoffman shoulders are touching - before you close up.
I have things arranged so that the bee flight path is directly over my allotment. ... Do bees fail to react to things that are out of sight? I think I will wimp out of doing an inspection this week and get some help.
As bontbee says, can you put a screen in front of the entrance? the bees will see you working on the allotment, it might make them as nervous as you. A screen will also force them to fly upwards, and away from you and anybody else who's working nearby.
