What did you do in the 'workshop' today

[ericbeaumont]

hives systems being prone to slide/move rather easily unless strapped up

This is a non-event in my experience with Abelo. In winter I put a 450 paving slab on top of poly and wood in high-wind locations (elsewhere nothing) and in season I've not had sliding of poly even when boxes are new.

 

[madasafish]

I have one Paradise Jumbo Lang hive. Five years old - looks new.

I suspect runny bees may give a problem closing up: as I cull runny Qs I have never had a real problem

 

[Swn58]

You tried modern beekeeping

Just looked......around £30 cheaper including strap, inspection board and QE! Looks like Bee Equipment, with their excellent customer service, will lose out.

As for compatibility, I ran out of supers last season and used a couple of spare cedar ones with no problems at all. I am not looking for compatibility with other Nationals though.

I like to paint my own hives and will be buying a sprayer this year to speed things up a bit!

 

[Swn58]

You tried modern beekeeping?

Just looked......around £30 cheaper including strap, inspection board and QE! Looks like Bee Equipment, with their excellent customer service are going to lose out.

As for compatibility, I ran out of supers last season and used a couple of spare cedar ones with no problems at all. I am not looking for compatibility with other Nationals though.

I like to paint my own hives and will be buying a sprayer this year to speed things up a bit!

 

[CaptainCymru]

Just looked......around £30 cheaper including strap, inspection board and QE! Looks like Bee Equipment, with their excellent customer service are going to lose out.

As for compatibility, I ran out of supers last season and used a couple of spare cedar ones with no problems at all. I am not looking for compatibility with other Nationals though.

I like to paint my own hives and will be buying a sprayer this year to speed things up a bit!

Nice one !I've been following and chatting to a guy in Tennessee. He is a nuc beekeeper ,reckons more honey due to tree cavity effect so going to try it this year using paradise honey jumbo lang nucs !

 

[madasafish]

Nice one !I've been following and chatting to a guy in Tennessee. He is a nuc beekeeper ,reckons more honey due to tree cavity effect so going to try it this year using paradise honey jumbo lang nucs !

He must have a big extractor. A jumbo Lang frame full of honey is roughly 5kg.

 

[CaptainCymru]

He must have a big extractor. A jumbo Lang frame full of honey is roughly 5kg.

Yeah maybe, I will just be crush and strain using couple buckets and a heater . Extraction end of summer only. 2, 6 frame boxes for brood and stores , 1 5 frame box for honey .Enough for me .

 

[Swarm]

Finished making floors. I'm quite pleased with the new design, much lighter, all timber the same size, just need meshing up and they are ready to go.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Finished making floors. I'm quite pleased with the new design, much lighter, all timber the same size, just need meshing up and they are ready to go.

Picture?

 

[user 819]

Finished a couple of 6 frame nucs made up out of old 6" T&G floor boards, both will double up as twin 3f mating nucs.
No pics yet.

 

[elainemary]

Following @jenkinsbrynmair pictures of Demaree boards, converted some old crownboards Ive replaced with glass. Decided to make them multi-use:
-Queen excluder on one side that can swivel across the holes to make a Demaree board
-Varroa mesh on the other side, also swivels to make it into a division board
-Plastic strip on top swivels over the mesh to convert to a ‘Heath robinson’ Cloakboard
-Entrance cut into the board

I’ve heard that if you have a division board in place between 2 colonies and the bees from the 2 colonies can touch (antennae, feet, proboscis) the hive smell and pheromones will transfer, so with removal of the second queen (who is most likely related to the first from division), you can unite directly. So just swivel the mesh and unite via holes in the crownboard, rather than more slowly through newspaper.

Anyone tried this?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

so why not just use a queen excluder in the board? that works, as does using the mesh

 

[Garry R]

I have a couple of poly hives that are now 40 years old and fully functional. They are stacked outside all winter. Steamed with a wall paper stripper before use in the spring dark brown masonry paint every 2 seasons and a touch up if any white appears on the corners. Dark is good as it keeps the damaging UV off and prevents breakdown of the polystyrene. Stored empty outside in the winter , given a bleach wash and steam cleaned in the spring using a wall paper steam stripper. Seems to work. Delightful colour but blends in well in these thieving times

 

[ericbeaumont]

poly hives that are now 40 years old and fully functional

Have you used them all that time, Garry? I can read National Frames on the front of the box but no other ID marks, and it would be interesting to know the maker.

 

[Popparand]

Spent half an hour admiring the boxes I have been assembling over the past couple of weeks. Then realised one of the lower locking bars was fitted upside down. How can that be? I always pay extra attention. Must have been when SWMBA brought me a cup of tea. A moment's distraction. Her fault then.

 

[Garry R]

Have you used them all that time, Garry? I can read National Frames on the front of the box but no other ID marks, and it would be interesting to know the maker.

Have used them all that time. They were made in Kiel in Germany all those years ago but when about 20 years later I couldn't find them for love nor money. Will get the name next time I'm down at the bees They are really solid. Now I use others - Langstroth BUT I convert them to nationals with a bit of cutting and it allows 12/13 national frames, The Nat frames end up at right angles to the Langstroths and become short lugged to fit in that direction, The off cuts from the bottom of the boxes get used as ekes for the winter fondant feeding. For supers I stick with the National size and I can get 3 supers out of two Langstroth deeps. I like the weight of the boxes and the price of polystyrene. I make my own wooden floors, crown boards and roofs usually out of recycled timber.

 

[Somerford]

TBH if you don’t strap a poly hive down doesn’t matter if it’s a Maisemore, Payne’s, Swienty or Abelo all the roofs can and will blow off. I found a deep Abelo roof on the floor cracked in half last year after a storm...!
You have to therefore have a strap of sorts to lock them together which then negates the ones with lips really as the strap does just that and the bees seal the cracks from the inside anyway - I’ve never had one move when strapped and they don’t move any more than a cedar hive would unless you knock them hard
KR

S

 

[Curly green finger's]

Making hives up yesterday and putting insulation in the roofs, leaving the batons out that go in the roof.
Im going to use them to make cloaky boards or upper entrances.
There is only two batons because SWMBO used the other two to start the fire.
Insulation is poly packaging from an American Fridge.

 

[Apple]

Nice one !I've been following and chatting to a guy in Tennessee. He is a nuc beekeeper ,reckons more honey due to tree cavity effect so going to try it this year using paradise honey jumbo lang nucs !

Went down the Nuc extender road with Paynes polly nucs last season... even made up qx to fit!
Production of honey in standard national brood frames in the supers was on a par with the standard National hives within the same apiary.
Down side was that the boxes were a pain to get apart even with Vaseline smeared on the joints.... and the brood frame only fitted in the 20 frame Thomas extractor.
Upside is that I have loads of extracted National frames to kick the season off with!

Bees fed and left in doubles... will be put up into propper Nationals this season... when I find time to make them up!!

Chons da

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Making hives up yesterday and putting insulation in the roofs, leaving the batons out that go in the roof.
Im going to use them to make cloaky boards or upper entrances. View attachment 24519View attachment 24520View attachment 24521
There is only two batons because SWMBO used the other two to start the fire.
Insulation is poly packaging from an American Fridge.

Market gardeners may recall Dutch Lights which were wooden frames with side grooves into which large glass sheets were slid. Once the glass was in a dutch light stop was nailed across the end bar to stop the glass sliding out again. The stops were about 6" long 1" square with a rebate so a roughly L shape cross section. It was easier to buy these ready made than make them. Our neighbouring market gardener was less than pleased when his wife announced the stock of kindling in the glass store had run out