Holy crap on a cracker -- that hurt.

[ShinySideUp]

Yesterday I put a clearer board with porter bee escapes under three full supers -- not a problem. Came back this afternoon to remove the supers and found them full of very angry bees. Heaven knows what had happened as the bee escapes were fine when I got down to them. All I could do was to put another pair in and see if they worked better but in the meantime they got severely angry and I got stung about twenty times on my arms and hands -- really, really unpleasant. I was after a frame of eggs from them for another possibly Q- hive but I couldn't find any eggs in the short time I had to look before they drove me off so perhaps this hive is queenless as well. TBH I don't really care at the moment and if this colony dies out no one will be more pleased than me even though there is probably 50 kg of honey to be taken from this one hive and they bloody well owe me.

So, sod Porter bee escapes, I have ordered some 8-way clearer devices and will try them; Dave Cushman seemed to the think they weren't too bad.

For now, I am going to take my dogs for a walk and wait for the itching and swelling on my hands and arms to get within tolerable levels.

Don't you just love the little critters.

 

[Angry_Mob]

Get yourself a rhombus board or make one like so: http://theapiarist.org/clearer-boards/

I put my rhombus board on Friday afternoon and on Saturday evening there were 2 bees in the super.

 

[birdsandbees]

yup! I very quickly learnt that Porter Bee escapes are sh*t and not worth the plastic they are made of.

I now use those 8 way escapes and they work well but doesn't take them long to work out a way back through so don't leave them on too long.

 

[enrico]

I never used porters on more than one super at a time. Three supers would take three days, one super a day. Now I use rhombus most of the time. It's just easier. Your porters need checking to make sure they are properly set and not all gummed up!
E

 

[manek]

I installed a rhombus on Friday afternoon and by lunchtime on Saturday, there were just three bees left in the super. No smoke required to grab it and tiptoe away... They really work.

 

[Beefriendly]

Yesterday I put a clearer board with porter bee escapes under three full supers --

Even with a rhombus clearer I'd leave them 2-3 days before going back if clearing 3 supers at a time.. In fact I'd probably, assuming I had enough spare, put one under each super.
I and others have noticed that supers are clearing much slower than usual this year, something we can only ascribe to the hot weather.
With colder nights the supers are colder and the bees are more actively seeking the heat below the clearer board.
Nowt wrong with using porters, they work but a rhombus/figure of 8/brushing are more efficient.

 

[Angry_Mob]

Looks like you have found out the hard way the answer to your own question. https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=632595&postcount=25

 

[Hachi]

Looks like you have found out the hard way the answer to your own question. https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=632595&postcount=25

 

[Millet]

Up to now i have been doing roughly two supers per week by taking the odd capped frames from four different colonies, basically several frames here and several from there, so i do not bother with any bee escapes even though i have the Rhombus clearer boards, all i do is shake the bees of which come of pretty easy on fully capped frames and then brush the stranglers of they go in a empty super on a up turned roof on the floor and a crown board on top with no hole in it, it is a pretty quick and simple method.

 

[thorn]

And, no matter how hot it is, wear a long sleeved shirt under your bee jacket.

 

[Beefriendly]

And, no matter how hot it is, wear a long sleeved shirt under your bee jacket.

No need to with an OzArmour ventilated suit. Been beekeeping in it with shorts and little else. Yet to take a sting through the suit, they guarantee you your money back if you do.
But good advice for a normal bee suit.

 

[Karsal]

Yesterday I put a clearer board with porter bee escapes under three full supers -- not a problem. Came back this afternoon to remove the supers and found them full of very angry bees. Heaven knows what had happened as the bee escapes were fine when I got down to them. All I could do was to put another pair in and see if they worked better but in the meantime they got severely angry and I got stung about twenty times on my arms and hands -- really, really unpleasant. I was after a frame of eggs from them for another possibly Q- hive but I couldn't find any eggs in the short time I had to look before they drove me off so perhaps this hive is queenless as well. TBH I don't really care at the moment and if this colony dies out no one will be more pleased than me even though there is probably 50 kg of honey to be taken from this one hive and they bloody well owe me.

So, sod Porter bee escapes, I have ordered some 8-way clearer devices and will try them; Dave Cushman seemed to the think they weren't too bad.

For now, I am going to take my dogs for a walk and wait for the itching and swelling on my hands and arms to get within tolerable levels.

Don't you just love the little critters.

Get some benzaldehyde off Amazon. Clears a super in less than 2 minutes.
Place several drops on an old pillowcase and put it in a sealed plastic bag to permeate through the material. Remove crownboard from the hive and replace with pillowcase and they hate the smell and shoot off down into the hive. Super can be removed in less than 5 minutes. Recommended by a commercial bee keeper.

Works a treat.

 

[Wingy]

No need to with an OzArmour ventilated suit. Been beekeeping in it with shorts and little else. Yet to take a sting through the suit, they guarantee you your money back if you do.
But good advice for a normal bee suit.

Did the shorts & T shirt last week while inspecting my garden colony just didn’t put a suit over it, just a head veil. The joy of pleasant bees

 

[ShinySideUp]

Looks like you have found out the hard way the answer to your own question. https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=632595&postcount=25

Oh yes, the REALLY hard way.

And, no matter how hot it is, wear a long sleeved shirt under your bee jacket.

I have been getting away with T shirt and shorts with the odd sting until today but the weather is turning a little cooler so I shall definitely getting back to the long sleeves under the suit.

Did the shorts & T shirt last week while inspecting my garden colony just didn’t put a suit over it, just a head veil. The joy of pleasant bees

Do you laugh at folk who have broken down on the hard shoulder too?

 

[ShinySideUp]

No need to with an OzArmour ventilated suit. Been beekeeping in it with shorts and little else. Yet to take a sting through the suit, they guarantee you your money back if you do.
But good advice for a normal bee suit.

Not cheap but oddly not that much more than a normal suit. Will look into those when my own suit has died (or I have!!).

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Get yourself a rhombus board or make one like so: http://theapiarist.org/clearer-boards/

I put my rhombus board on Friday afternoon and on Saturday evening there were 2 bees in the super.

A rhombus board has no impact if a hive is Q- as suspected.

 

[ShinySideUp]

A rhombus board has no impact if a hive is Q- as suspected.

Are you saying that if a colony is queenless they won't necessarily go anywhere in hurry? That's a little worrying as it is what I suspect has happened here but I'm not going in to try to find out, I just want the honey and am not looking forward to brushing off thirty frames of angry bees!

 

[ShinySideUp]

I've got my honey.

This time the replacement Porters were effective and the supers largely clear of bees. So getting dressed for war was unnecessary in the end. Shorts, then jeans, T shirt and a sweatshirt over that, Tesco Heavy-duty black-rubber gloves with blue, long-cuff nitriles on top of those. In the end the Kamikazi bees appear to have taken the day off as I was barely approached by bees.

I have invented a device wherein the bees place a neon sign outside the hive with various programmable warnings available: CALM, SLIGHTLY-IRRITATED, VERY IRRITATED, ANGRY and DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT TODAY.

All I have to do is train the bees to use it and for that I need to know if they are calm...if only they would put up a sign

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Are you saying that if a colony is queenless they won't necessarily go anywhere in hurry?

They'll clear down whether a queen is present or not.

 

[Ian123]

I've got my honey.

I have invented a device wherein the bees place a neon sign outside the hive with various programmable warnings available: CALM, SLIGHTLY-IRRITATED, VERY IRRITATED, ANGRY and DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT TODAY.

All I have to do is train the bees to use it and for that I need to know if they are calm...if only they would put up a sign

i tried that with the wife but could not train her to use signals.....PLS TELL ME HOW YOU GET ON AND ANY ADVICE APPRECIATED