Planning for next year

[Jonnyl]

Hi everyone, being a first year beekeeper and trying to plan for next year (hopefully). I intend to do a vertical split in the spring and have fond many useful variations all including a split board. I've also been looking at Thornes Adapta eke as this strikes me as a good way of sublimation this winter. My question is could I use this with a mesh cover in place of the split board as I don't want to spend £65 on a Horsley board as well. I'm only a hobbyist and I think the outlay is a bit expensive for such little use of the board. Thanks for any advice. Regards

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hi everyone, being a first year beekeeper and trying to plan for next year (hopefully). I intend to do a vertical split in the spring and have fond many useful variations all including a split board. I've also been looking at Thornes Adapta eke as this strikes me as a good way of sublimation this winter. My question is could I use this with a mesh cover in place of the split board as I don't want to spend £65 on a Horsley board as well. I'm only a hobbyist and I think the outlay is a bit expensive for such little use of the board. Thanks for any advice. Regards

Are you planning on increase?
If not then just Demaree
All you need is a QX with a notch in it to create a top entrance

 

[drex]

When I started I made up all sorts of posh boards myself, including Horsley, Snelgrove etc. They are easy and cheap to do with basic skills. Find I rarely use them however. A Horseley board is a bit more complicated than you seem to think. It has two holes in, one covered in mesh, the other covered with queen excluder over which there is a metal slide to open and close the hole. A queen excluder and a cover board and a home made eke with a hole drilled in it will do most jobs for you.

 

[B+.]

IMO there are lots of pieces of equipment that you could buy but don't really need. The exceptions are hives, nucs, smoker (if your bees need it), hive tool and bee suit. If you get into queen rearing; a magnifier, led torch, grafting tool and cell cups. Just about everything else is optional. Most things you can invent on the spot with plastic sheeting and gorilla tape.

 

[domino]

IMO there are lots of pieces of equipment that you could buy but don't really need. The exceptions are hives, nucs, smoker (if your bees need it), hive tool and bee suit. If you get into queen rearing; a magnifier, led torch, grafting tool and cell cups. Just about everything else is optional. Most things you can invent on the spot with plastic sheeting and gorilla tape.

Sage advice, I've got all sorts of stuff that I end up giving away.

I've found a workforce of poly nucs works well for almost any beekeeping problem. Include queening rearing.

 

[Parsonage Bees]

(Second year beekeeper here)
I found Wally Shaw's 'Simple methods of making increase' useful | LINK

Page 14 about split boards. "for the purpose of making increase one entrance and a ventilation hole is all that is required"

Could be a crownboard with a gap in the top side and mesh stapled over the holes.
I admit I didn't use this method. I pushed them up to a double brood box and then split into 2 x 5 frame nucs. You'll probably use both of these extra bits of equipment. I don't have a split board but I do have a QE with a top entrance but that's another issue.

. . . . Ben

P.S. I don't want to stop you spending money with Thornes as they are a very useful local employer.

 

[Jonnyl]

Im planning an increase EricA. Cheers

 

[Millet]

Im planning an increase EricA. Cheers

If you are planning on increase you will need more hives and some nuc's with frames to boot..infact you need more of everything you have now..i don't use any type of board other than crown boards when making increase.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

John Smith called me over at the honey show and showed me the adapta eke - not really suitable for use as a split board as it's too deep - you're going to end up with brace comb all over the place. Just get a spare crown board, put mesh or a piece of metal queen excluder (if going for Demarree) over the feeder hole and just cut 20mm or so out of one of the rims to make an entrance in it (crown boards cost a fiver in the sales)

 

[Jonnyl]

That sounds like a plan and ive a spare crown board. Thank you. Thank you all.

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[Beefriendly]

If you are using a board...then surely you are doing a modified Snelgrove?...no boards used in a classic Demaree.

 

[Jonnyl]

Yes, its the snelgrove vertical split, but with adapted crown board as suggested. I never mentioned demaree. Its an increase i want. Thanks

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[jenkinsbrynmair]

no boards used in a classic Demaree.

Classic Demarree no - so you could call my method a modified Demarree. I just find it's good to avoid trapped drones, and by only having a small area of queen excluder means some but not much pheromone gets up to the top box thus encouraging the building of supersedure not emergency queen cells.
The OP originally asked about split boards anyway - same applies but with mesh instead of QX

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I never mentioned demaree. Its an increase i want. Thanks

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Modified Demarree does the same, you get fewer but better quality queen cells as the bees are not in such a rush to build queen cells, in fact, when I check seven days into the maneuvre I seldom find a sealed QC indicating to me that they have selected the youngest larvae to produce them

 

[Jonnyl]

I never knew that, I'll read up on it and make a choice. The bees know best. I've started planning just noe for just such options to weigh up. Thanks again cheers

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[Beefriendly]

Classic Demarree no - so you could call my method a modified Demarree.

Don't matter too much; but it can get very confusing when the exact same method can be called a modified Demaree and also a modified Snelgrove.
My own preference is, if has a board, it's modified Snelgrove.

 

[masterBK]

I use a swivel entrance on a crown board so that it can revert back when not being used for modified demaree. Snelgrove considered his methods (he had several) as modified demarees

 

[Beefriendly]

Snelgrove considered his methods (he had several) as modified demarees

Did he now! That would be why he called Chapter one of his book "A NEW method of swarm prevention". He goes on to describe (in later chapters) the classic Demaree and it's disadvantages compared to his method.

 

[Millet]

Why do we need snelgrove boards and demaree boards..i have never used either of these boards or methods for increase.. i simply split the hive i do not like into nucs and add a new mated Queen to each colony in the nuc...it can't get much easier than that.. i have went from one colony to three and from three to seven and i have given two nucs away..

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Not everyone needs to buy in new queens and would prefer to keep certain bloodlines.