My bees won't clear out of the super

[BeesNees]

This is my first attempt at honey extraction, having had my bees for 15 months.
I moved the bottom super (the fullest as it was put on first) to the top of the hive, and put a clearing board with two porter bee escapes below it to clear the bees. 24 hours later it was still full of bees. I bought a Canadian clearing board and put that below the super instead, and 30 hours later (dusk) the super is still full of bees.
Could the problem be that some of the cappings were ripped off when the frames stuck to the super above, when I was moving it?
Do I need to forget that super for now to let the bees recap the honey, and try to clear a different super?
Any advice is most welcome! Thanks.

 

[deanrpwaacs]

Throw the porters away they are crap and get a rhombus escape tape up one of the holes and pin the rhombus over the centre hole (if it has one) . It will be clear in 24hrs no problem .

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Bees will clear downwards whether the honey is capped or not but they will struggle to move down into the main body of the hive if it is overcrowded - is there enough space for them down there? Porter escapes are rubbish, Canadian clearers are dubious. You want a rhombus escape that will clear in a few hours

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[pargyle]

I bought a Canadian clearing board and put that below the super instead, and 30 hours later (dusk) the super is still full of bees.
.

Canadian clearer board from Thornes Catalogue "A very effective and rapid way of clearing bees. The cones are not one way valves but the bees are sufficiently disorientated not to be able to find their way back into the supers. However they should not be left on for more than six hours"

Personally - I would buy a rhombus bee escape - cut it in half and put one in diagonal corners of your Canadian clearer board - block up the other holes in thr bosrd ... as others have said - works a treat - but you don't need 24 hours for any clearer board to work. The Rhombus ones do it in as little as a couple of hours - maxi 4 hours usually.

In the meantime you could try using your Canadian clearer again - but leave it only for a few hours - the bees rapidly work out how they work - they are not a one way valve. The porter bee escapes need to be carefully adjusted to work at all and even they they don't work very well ... dump them.

Lastly - make sure you have got the board the right way up - you would no be the first to put a clearer board on upside down !!

 

[Plenty of honey]

This may sound like a stupid question , but is there any chance you might have a queen in or on the supers frames. I find that thats usually why bees won't go down.

One of mine had a queen excluder on top of the first super, not underneath and there was brood and a queen in the middle of that super.( but only a tiny amount i might add) I stuck on the bee escape and came back three times. In frustration i harvested anyway, got stung to pieces and in the process found a queen in the extraction room! "Errr right, where the hell did she come from!!"
It does happen from time to time!!

 

[Gilberdyke John]

This is my first attempt at honey extraction, having had my bees for 15 months.
I moved the bottom super (the fullest as it was put on first) to the top of the hive, and put a clearing board with two porter bee escapes below it to clear the bees. 24 hours later it was still full of bees. I bought a Canadian clearing board and put that below the super instead, and 30 hours later (dusk) the super is still full of bees.
Could the problem be that some of the cappings were ripped off when the frames stuck to the super above, when I was moving it?
Do I need to forget that super for now to let the bees recap the honey, and try to clear a different super?
Any advice is most welcome! Thanks.

Use a rhombus board with a deep underside space. If you're in a hurry you could at a pinch have a second box to hand with a cover then with a bee brush and moving quickly and smoothly take each frame in turn, brush every bee off it down into the hive and slot it into your covered box. There'll be a few get under the cover but deal with them them when you have left the apiary.

 

[drex]

They will be reluctant to leave if there is any brood in the super too.

 

[OursonAnglaise]

I leave my entrance blocks in all year...this is my second year & what they're used to! Never had a problem with queuing.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I leave my entrance blocks in all year...this is my second year & what they're used to! Never had a problem with queuing.

wrong thread?

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Brushing works well

 

[Cussword]

I did wonder

 

[Erichalfbee]

Don't chuck the Canadian board. Tape up the central hole and remove the cone escapes in the corners. Get two rhombus escapes. Cut each in half and secure over corners. Deepen that side to 10cm with an eke

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Deepen that side to 10cm with an eke

I find 25mm or so is ample

 

[REDWOOD]

for those who have gone over to vaping your old apiguard ekes make ideal clearing boards, all you do is attach a rhombus escape to a crown board with map pins (that is if you use a centre hole) and place on top of eke.
I don't cut my rhombus escapes and fit in the corners, they work just as good in the centre, eight hours will clear three supers.

 

[Teebeeaitch]

Your choice of course but just another vote for the Nicot Rhombus clearer. Works a treat for me and I leave it on anything between 4 - 18 hours and it clears beautifully. For me, a 25mm deep board is plenty deep enough.

 

[Millet]

When I got my little bit of rape honey at the beginning of the year I just brushed the bees of over the hive, I used a separate brood box behind me to plonk the capped frames into, when I was done I made sure there was no bees in there and put a crown board on with no feed hole to seal it up, it took about 10 minutes.

 

[Cussword]

When I got my little bit of rape honey at the beginning of the year I just brushed the bees of over the hive, I used a separate brood box behind me to plonk the capped frames into, when I was done I made sure there was no bees in there and put a crown board on with no feed hole to seal it up, it took about 10 minutes.

I have to say I did the same with the 15lbs of honey I collected.

 

[Tremyfro]

I have to say I did the same with the 15lbs of honey I collected.

So far I'm hating your 15 lbs of honey....i bet you have summer honey to harvest as well???

 

[Millet]

I have to say I did the same with the 15lbs of honey I collected.

You beat me by 3lb

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I have to say I did the same with the 15lbs of honey I collected.

You beat me by 3lb

It's a start gents - and better than B*gger all, it can only get better from here on