Fondant on the crown board

[Millet]

Actually no.

If you use a thin eke, mine are roughly an inch, then put the fondant on the top bars having of course hefted the colony to see if it actually needs anything yet.. then CB and Roof and that is all I use.

In due time.

Mine are lead blocks at the moment so need to feed.

PH

Do you not get a problem with wild comb when using eke's in any form, anyhow i do not need to use eke's or Chinese tubs of any size as a zip bag is easy and cheap and nice and flat

 

[ShinySideUp]

Do you not get a problem with wild comb when using eke's in any form, anyhow i do not need to use eke's or Chinese tubs of any size as a zip bag is easy and cheap and nice and flat

This is my first season as a beek but all summer I have had crown boards with holes open and while there be a few bees on top of the CB they haven't so much as left a grain of wax on the top. I have no idea why, perhaps they have quite enough room inside.

 

[Poly Hive]

Well you have been lucky and those bloody holes should be shut. Do you live with half your roof open?

No problem with wild comb as I put some bubble wrap over the fondant.

PH

 

[Millet]

Well you have been lucky and those bloody holes should be shut. Do you live with half your roof open?

No problem with wild comb as I put some bubble wrap over the fondant.

PH

I only put the poly roof over my flat fondant/feed.. KISS .. just messing

Edit to add No roof ventilation at all.

 

[Hivemaker.]

More like leaving the loft open, rather than the roof, and lofts are generally very warm.

 

[enrico]

Exactly hive maker. I occasionally have feeder boards on with no feeder. The roof is insulated and sealed so there is a small gap between the board and the roof. This is filled with warm air from the hive. Which is going nowhere......not that essential to cover the hole. If the bees don't like it they will wax it closed anyway.
E

 

[Jambo]

More like leaving the loft open, rather than the roof, and lofts are generally very warm.

Not if your house is properly insulated!

 

[Hivemaker.]

Not if your house is properly insulated!

I agree, be even warmer then, or do you mean it would be colder.

 

[Jambo]

No! Correct modern insulation gives a cold loft space. As a closed and insulated crown board will give a cold hive roof.

I don't know much about bees though.

 

[Swarm]

The bees really don't seem to mind.

 

[Hivemaker.]

No! Correct modern insulation gives a cold loft space.

Ah, our place is not modern, but insulated, like an oven up there, heat rises up through the open hatch.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Excuse the packet if Feedbee ran out of fondant and needed some sooner than I could get a supply

 

[Millet]

Excuse the packet if Feedbee ran out of fondant and needed some sooner than I could get a supply

On the hive i have a cosy on i do the same and a Chinese carton will will fit in that hive but it will not on the hives with poly roofs.

P.S don't forget to tape those exposed edges.

 

[Erichalfbee]

On the hive i have a cosy on i do the same and a Chinese carton will will fit in that hive but it will not on the hives with poly roofs.

P.S don't forget to tape those exposed edges.

On the poly hives I just make a deep roof of the same stuff
They are not exposed, Steve
When the fondant is finished inside there is still a robust plastic bag glued to the feeder hole.
I have kept the cut out so that it will revert from a feeder eke to a sheet of insulation

 

[Olivia9801]

I've copied the practice of the Norfolk Honey Co by flattening approx a kilo of fondant in cling film and placing it on the frames with an eke then the crown board on top. My eke's are only an inch deep, but this adequate for the thickness of my fondant.

What I like with this method is the reassurance that there is much less chance of the bees missing the fondant and starving should the colony be away from the hole/s in the crown board.

Have a look at his videos on this subject. Really good like all of his presentations.

 

[madasafish]

I've copied the practice of the Norfolk Honey Co by flattening approx a kilo of fondant in cling film and placing it on the frames with an eke then the crown board on top. My eke's are only an inch deep, but this adequate for the thickness of my fondant.

What I like with this method is the reassurance that there is much less chance of the bees missing the fondant and starving should the colony be away from the hole/s in the crown board.

Have a look at his videos on this subject. Really good like all of his presentations.

I feed fondant to overwintering mini nucs like that..I use a rolling pin to roll fondant (in a freezer bag) flat...

 

[MartinL]

More like leaving the loft open, rather than the roof, and lofts are generally very warm.

Not if your house is properly insulated!

Depends on the insulation and how it's been fitted;

Cheapest form of home insulation is rock-wool between & over Ceiling joists = cold loft.

More expensive/ efficient,
Phenolic boarding fitted to rafters sealed with Al foil tape, (above the loft) leaving a ventilation gap below the felt & short of the external-wall cavity, to expel moisture = warm loft.


Most beneficial;
18-22 inches of straw or reed fitted to outside surface of roof. Warm as toast & breathable too!


Just have to watch out for irresponsible fools setting off display fireworks within 25meters twice every year!

 

[Eyeman]

Norfolk Honey Co by flattening approx a kilo of fondant in cling film

Only problem with cling film is they shred it up and drag it through the hive and out the entrance- they can get tangled up and trapped in the process.
I now use plastic freezer bags

 

[Fritillary]

Depends on the insulation and how it's been fitted;

More expensive/ efficient,
Phenolic boarding fitted to rafters sealed with Al foil tape, (above the loft) leaving a ventilation gap below the felt & short of the external-wall cavity, to expel moisture = warm loft.

Yes, if only! In the past here I've had to leave the trapdoor to the loft wide open in the cold to stop pipes etc up there ABOVE the insulation from freezing! How sensible is that??

 

[ShinySideUp]

I can leave my loft door firmly sealed as there are no pipes in the loft at all. I pay for that though as my header tank is just above the cistern in the bathroom and therefore I have almost no pressure in my upstairs hot tap. You win some, you lose some.