Frame swapping

[Patrick1]

Don’t you help out a ’weaker’ colony when doing a split?

agree with the points above. Knowing to recognise disease and understanding why the colony is weak is key.

Yes we often equalize our hives for easy management, I would like to think I was a professional beekeeper and able to spot the signs of a problem.
We do this before we decide to unit or strengthen.

 

[Patrick1]

Should I have supers dedicated to individual colonies if EFB can be transmitted through honey?

When I had upto 50 hives I did just that, each hive had a number that was the same as all the kit I used on it, I developed some equipment like the multifunction crown board that never leave the hive even now when managing 300 plus.

If numbering the kit does nothing else other than make a beekeeper think about disease it would be a good start.

 

[Patrick1]

As Ian123, I know of commercial beekeepers who throw together 3 different frames of brood and add a queen, this way confuses the bees from fighting each other. Another response to this is, if you have a weak hive and you add a frame of brood, there may not be enough bees to cover the frame and the bees don't emerge. Then you have wasted a frame and the colony is still weak.

Yes, I have to say we occasionally unite small nucs in this way, it’s a bit of a sink or swim method, we spray with a smelly first, yes, you do still need enough bees.

 

[Wilco]

When I had upto 50 hives I did just that, each hive had a number that was the same as all the kit I used on it, I developed some equipment like the multifunction crown board that never leave the hive even now when managing 300 plus.

If numbering the kit does nothing else other than make a beekeeper think about disease it would be a good start.

I've been working on my own multifunction crown boards, would be interested to know what yours Swiss army knife into to see if I can improve mine?

 

[Anduril]

I've been working on my own multifunction crown boards, would be interested to know what yours Swiss army knife into to see if I can improve mine?

You can view them on his website

 

[RichardK]

You can view them on his website

What his his website address please? I can't see it detailed in this thread or on his profile? Or have I missed something?

 

[Anduril]

Try the sponsors page or look at the top of this thread

 

[Anduril]

I have a few similar to that design, which I made a number of years ago. The SBI got a little bit confused and couldn't open the first hive with one on. I find it has more pros than cons.

 

[Patrick1]

What his his website address please? I can't see it detailed in this thread or on his profile? Or have I missed something?

https://bee-equipment.co.uk/product...tion-crown-board?_pos=10&_sid=ca00bd39d&_ss=r

 

[Erichalfbee]

These are a doddle to make. Just add an eke to an existing crownboard.
mine are made of polycarbonate with a wooden eke and I use them to top vape

 

[Patrick1]

I've been working on my own multifunction crown boards, would be interested to know what yours Swiss army knife into to see if I can improve mine?

https://bee-equipment.co.uk/product...ction-crown-board?_pos=9&_sid=9e9e86e35&_ss=r

 

[Patrick1]

These are a doddle to make. Just add an eke to an existing crownboard.
mine are made of polycarbonate with a wooden eke and I use them to top vape

Of course you can make them so they can deal with a couple of issue not exactly “Multi function “

 

[Erichalfbee]

Of course you can make them so they can deal with a couple of issue not exactly “Multi function “

Well mine look very similar to yours I could probably think of even more functions than you have
The fact that I might not be inclined to use some of those you describe doesn’t detract from the description

 

[GuyNir]

This is a similar one for poly hives:
https://paynesbeefarm.co.uk/products/poly-crownboard-with-porter-escapes
I converted many of those to polycarbonate:

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Well mine look very similar to yours I could probably think of even more functions than you have
The fact that I might not be inclined to use some of those you describe doesn’t detract from the description

And twenty two quid just for a hole drilled in the eke....................

 

[pargyle]

This is a similar one for poly hives:
https://paynesbeefarm.co.uk/products/poly-crownboard-with-porter-escapes
I converted many of those to polycarbonate:

I have some like this from Paynes that I have converted... the polycarbonate is a loose sheet and I take it out. Turn it upside down an replace it with a sheet of ply with rhombus clearer fitted and hey presto it's a clearer board ! Truly multi functional !

 

[Boston Bees]

Horses for courses. Some like to make, others are happy to buy. Either approach is fine!

 

[drex]

I have made crown boards with a rhombus over one hole, which, when the exit is plugged with a bit of sponge, acts as a mesh screen. Over another hole is a swivelling piece of mesh and on top of that a bit of Perspex , so it can be closed completely, or just open a crack to tempt bees up to clean out any supers placed over it. They also have deep rims into which I have cut Snelgrove type doors . Truly multifunctional.

 

[holmbee]

My crown boards have 50mm deep sides with a 50mm central hole. The hole can be used with a rhombus clearer or reversed can feed fondant /candipollein in winter. Also in winter they have 50mm insulation or two 25mm the lower with a square/rectangluar hole to fit a bag of fondant. The insulation is normally left on in the summer to help reduce high temperatures.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Are we all not saying the same thing?

Many beekeepers have had arguments for the same reason . Agressively agreeing with each other