Crown/clearer boards?

[Hawklord]

What do you use for crown/clearer boards and what have you used in the passed? How good are they? Do you make your own? Can you stick some photos and dimensions up? I'm just trying to get some info so I can make some for next year.

 

[oliver90owner]

I use a piece of 6mm ply, 460 x 460mm. Small hole for bees trapped above to get below.

Plunge-route or jigsaw holes for Porter bee escapes and add some bee space battens to the top edges to make them into a clearer. Nothing special.

Don't you have one with your hive? Just copy that?

Regards,RAB

 

[Hawklord]

My crown board just has a circular hole in the middle, about 1 1/2" diameter. Whats the best escape to use ie rhombus, curtain, porter, etc. There's loads of different types I was just trying to see who uses what and to what effect.

 

[MJBee]

Light the blue touch paper and stand clear - Quote - which is the best escape" - Unquote
I use porter escapes which still do the job even though they are 20+ years old.
Recently though I made a "Vortex" escape http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/vortexescape.html. It completely cleared 2 very full supers in 3 hours!
I have no experience of any others but no doubt other beeks will respond.
Mike

 

[VEG]

I dont use clearers I brush the bees off. Not had any problem yet doing this. It only takes one visit and no worrying about bees getting stuck in the escapes.

 

[Poly Hive]

Bee brush...................shudder.

PH

 

[VEG]

I didnt say bee brush I use a goose feather.

If the bees are not fussy on this method they dont show it.

 

[Somerford]

I use a couple of porter escapes per crown board. One crown board I have has an ingenious metal slider that you leave closed and when you put the wet supers back on, you simply pull open to allow the bees up to clean them out if required.

I did read once that rhombus bee escapes could be counter effective if you leave them on for too long and the bees find a way back !

as I said, I did read it, not my own experience.

Having seen the Martha Kearny programme last night, I wonder if I should reverse fit my spare Dyson and blow them off the combs instead ?

If I fitted it to my back and ran it on a battery I could be mistaken for one of the Ghostbusters !

LOL

 

[GingerNut]

Light the blue touch paper and stand clear - Quote - which is the best escape" - Unquote
I use porter escapes which still do the job even though they are 20+ years old.
Recently though I made a "Vortex" escape http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/vortexescape.html. It completely cleared 2 very full supers in 3 hours!
I have no experience of any others but no doubt other beeks will respond.
Mike

I shall be making one of the square ones of these tomorrow


Yours Roy