Manipulation Cloths

[RodBromiley]

I'm fairly new to bee keeping. I really can see all the benefits of cloths but struggle to see why they are so expensive. Can somebody please help me to justify why a piece of cloth and wooden ends costs so much ? Or maybe someone can point me in the direction of buying cheap but quality ? I really don't have the time to make my own !

 

[midnight sun]

I'm fairly new to bee keeping. I really can see all the benefits of cloths but struggle to see why they are so expensive. Can somebody please help me to justify why a piece of cloth and wooden ends costs so much ? Or maybe someone can point me in the direction of buying cheap but quality ? I really don't have the time to make my own !

Don't bother. Just use one of the frames you have removed to make space to inspect, to cover the open hive area while your inspecting the other part. Plus side to this method is no cleaning of cloths each inspection, less to carry with you and no chance of cross contamination of diseases from one hive to the next. Some may disagree, I think it is logical.
Regards Dave

 

[MuswellMetro]

i rarely use a cover cloth but if i feel the need to use one then i use two freshly washed close woven tea towels with couple of frame top bars to keep them fromblowing away

to avoid disease transmission between hives i do not use those tea towels again until they are rewashed

 

[RodBromiley]

Actually I forgot about the disease angle. I will bear it in mind. Thank you.

 

[BeeJayBee]

Some people hate cover cloths but I like them. I prefer them to using a dummy board or a part filled frame because I can, if necessary, just roll it over the top of the box and walk away. Handy for covering supers too, temporarily.

Don't be tempted to buy them, especially the ones with a hole in the middle - they're useless in practice. Easy enough to make from any bits of fabric larger than the top of the brood box (pillow case, tea towel?) just make a channel at each end for a bit of batten to weigh the ends down. Slide it out for laundering. All my cloths get washed after use, just shoved in the washing machine with the suit and gloves.

Disease transfer isn't really an issue within a single small apiary, because bees often drift from one hive to another anyway. If either fb is suspected then the whole apiary is on lockdown anyway, not just the suspect colony, and all kit should be cleaned - including footwear - just in case. Nothing out to another apiary until the colony or colonies have been checked by SBI.

If you have more than one apiary you'd need to use clean cloths for each site. Some people keep a set of kit (smoker, hive tool, gloves etc) for each apiary, as well as a fresh bucket of washing soda.

 

[user 6228]

We use offcuts of black correx. It's more light proof and we had it hanging about

 

[AndrewE]

Some people hate cover cloths but I like them.... because I can, if necessary, just roll it over the top of the box and walk away. Handy for covering supers too, temporarily.
Don't be tempted to buy them, especially the ones with a hole in the middle - they're useless in practice.

I couldn't agree more. Mine are made from old white canvas/sailcloth and I don't think they are any less effective than the first (black) ones I was given by a beekeeper who started during the 2nd world war! I wouldn't go to my hives without the two with battens fitted (for working across the brood box, weight needed sometimes to stop them blowing away) and several slightly bigger ones for covering exposed supers etc.

Also agree that disease transfer risk seems to be a modern obsession and (speaking personally) if there's no fb in the area I wouldn't even be too worried about using kit at different apiaries of mine...

A

 

[maddydog]

Don't have time to make your own? Some cloth stapled to a couple of bits of timber?

Anyway, I use the first frame out of the box. Usually empty or just stores, gently lay it in place after checking for HM.

 

[Heather]

I use ordinary towels, two per hive, don't need weights. (Can cut in half if pos)
Go on www.freecycle.org in your area to get freebies.
All go in w machine after inspections.

Haven't used smoke yet this year.

 

[itma]

I'm fairly new to bee keeping. I really can see all the benefits of cloths ...

The 'benefits' shouldn't be needed with well-tempered bees and/or gentle frame handling.



Rough handling will "stir up" the bees, and this is something beginners should be advised to watch out for and if needed, work on - are the bees trying to tell you something?

But 'bad bees' can get up and agitated even with really gentle handling.
If that is the problem, the real answer is to requeen from better stock.

Should one find oneself with a problem of excessive numbers of bees flying over the open hive, some temporary relief can be obtained with a water mister and using a stores frame (or dummy board) as a part cover.

 

[wessexmario]

another thing that can be used stapled to sticks is some offcuts from a compost bag, an ideal material for screening.

 

[snelgrove]

I made a couple of cloths out of dust sheets cut to size and two pieces of inch timber stapled to ends. If bees are a good tempered kind why use them, just a hindrance I think

 

[RodBromiley]

Hi itma, I have today at Bee Club been chatting about bad Tempered Queens. They said in the past they had tried to breed a better queen the " squish " the tempered one. He reckons he later learned that Bad Queens will only breed bad bees so brought in a new queen and squished the old at the time. I take on board lol your comments about handling and very valid they are.

 

[Chorlton Honey Bees]

covering the bees

i use a pair of black pillow cases from Asda and put 2 1" battens cut slightly over size to weight them down just take out the wood when washing in machine job done just a bit small on the width but i only use to cover the top brood box whilst inspecting the bottom box to keep from flying

 

[Moggs]

Unless washed after each visit, a sure-fire way of intermingling any hive nasties, including all manner of bacteria and fungal spores.

Judicious use of smoke should be sufficient to control bees. Gentle handling, lightweight gloves without sausage-fingers and nicely-behaved bees should obviate the need, imo.

When inspecting, I like to gauge the behaviour of all the bees in the box and a limited view of one frame has been too restrictive for this approach.

Each to their own!


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