What did you do in the 'workshop' today

[pargyle]

Sixty quid at Thornes, but I see that they currently have a cheapo version of £20 in their sale: Swarm Catcher, SALE - 2021 BBKA SALE

To be honest the cheaper one looks a better proposition than the £60 one ... it takes a 22mm pole rather than 30mm (copper water pipe size) the cottone looks a bit lighter in weight than the canvas on the £60 one - by the time you have hoisted something up in the air the less weight and the less turning moment you have the easier it is to handle ... I might invest in one for £20, it's a useful bit of kit and I have a load of scrap copper pipe that, with some fettling, would make an extending handle that would reach 9 metres .... if the swarm is higher than that ... they deserve to escape.

 

[Apiarisnt]

To be honest the cheaper one looks a better proposition than the £60 one ... it takes a 22mm pole rather than 30mm (copper water pipe size) the cottone looks a bit lighter in weight than the canvas on the £60 one - by the time you have hoisted something up in the air the less weight and the less turning moment you have the easier it is to handle ... I might invest in one for £20, it's a useful bit of kit and I have a load of scrap copper pipe that, with some fettling, would make an extending handle that would reach 9 metres .... if the swarm is higher than that ... they deserve to escape.

...and apropos of the earlier discussion about Russian Scions, I have just ordered a couple of these: Black Bee Cage Swarming Catcher Trap Beekeeping Beekeeper Practical R6W7 | eBay

At £9.50 for the pair, including postage, then I thought it worth a try. Now if another idiot tries to do a three point turn in the Suez Canal again, then they will not arrive until long after the swarming season has finished. (Unless we fly JBM out there to pilot the ship back on course...)

 

[pargyle]

...and apropos of the earlier discussion about Russian Scions, I have just ordered a couple of these: Black Bee Cage Swarming Catcher Trap Beekeeping Beekeeper Practical R6W7 | eBay

At £9.50 for the pair, including postage, then I thought it worth a try. Now if another idiot tries to do a three point turn in the Suez Canal again, then they will not arrive until long after the swarming season has finished. (Unless we fly JBM out there to pilot the ship back on course...)

It will be interesting to see if they work ... mind you, at that price, not a disaster if they don't - I've spent more than that on some gadgets that NEVER had a chance of working !!

 

[Malmcd]

I fasten my swarm catcher to a telescopic tree pruner. In some circumstances you can cut the branch supporting the swarm so that they fall into the catcher bag! Also, after you have taken a swarm, removal of the branch removes the scent and discourages flying bees from resettling there.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Yours is the Rolls Royce.

I agree, the water bottle collector is the best, but not the ladder! Scared the hell out of me!

If you share my fear, invest in the safest tool for the job: tripod ladders are light but very stable and can be carried in one hand, even the 14ft one.

The 8-footer may be £200 (and that's with a price reduction) but your good health is worth it.

 

[gmonag]

I agree, the water bottle collector is the best, but not the ladder! Scared the hell out of me!

It was a bit iffy! However my wife gets maximum kudos, holding the ladder whilst being showered with bees!

 

[BigAshW]

Have got six of these finished up to put out over the weekend.

 

[masterBK]

Assembled a few dozen brood frames and fitted them with foundation yesterday. Not a very exciting task one might add but had a pleasant surprise. One pack of ten sheets of Thornes foundation contained eleven sheets! The foundation was acquired a few years ago when I traded in 109 kg of wax and paid for the conversion/wiring. Still have enough foundation left to last me several more years.

 

[StephenT]

Topped a make-shift roof with some nice slate as a few spots of rain are forecast. Don’t laugh

 

[Newbeeneil]

Topped a make-shift roof with some nice slate as a few spots of rain are forecast. Don’t laugh

I hope that is Welsh slate and not any of the Spanish muck!

 

[madasafish]

Topped a make-shift roof with some nice slate as a few spots of rain are forecast. Don’t laugh

Very aesthetically pleasing and full of the recycling spirit.

Or in fewer words: a good bodge.

 

[Wilco]

Not sure if this counts but I've been tinkering with a tangential 4 frame extractor so it now has radial capability... Needs a bit of tidying up still but couldn't resist a brief dummy run today. Whether it will work/hold up, I've no idea but we shall see!

 

[Wilco]

Bought one of the cheap ebay ones last year. It was smaller than I'd expected. I switched to using an empty feed sack (paper one).

 

[Newbeeneil]

I got fed up of having all the different types of frames I use in different boxes and having to search through to find them so I converted some shelves into "pidgeon holes" to store them for easy access.

Plus a section for castellations etc!

Because I look after so many different types of hive I have quite a collection of frame types!
DN1
SN1
Hoffman deeps
14x12
Manley

 

[pargyle]

To be honest the cheaper one looks a better proposition than the £60 one ... it takes a 22mm pole rather than 30mm (copper water pipe size) the cottone looks a bit lighter in weight than the canvas on the £60 one - by the time you have hoisted something up in the air the less weight and the less turning moment you have the easier it is to handle ... I might invest in one for £20, it's a useful bit of kit and I have a load of scrap copper pipe that, with some fettling, would make an extending handle that would reach 9 metres .... if the swarm is higher than that ... they deserve to escape.

I bought one of the £20 swarm catchers from Thornes (I was buying some frames anyway so just tagged it on to the order).

Really pleased with it - it's better made than I thought it would be for the price. It sits perfectly on the end of a piece of 22mm copper tube so I reckon it will go as high a I will ever need it. The closing mechanism at the top works a treat although the cord to pull it shut will need extending. It has a cord to close the bottom but I've just added one of thise plastic bag closers which will be easier and quicker to release one handed.

All I don't need now is a swarm to try it out - with any luck having bought one I'll be devoid of swarms this year !!!

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Sterilised some nucs ...put a solid ufe on what was a mesh floor

 

[Swn58]

Just been putting frames together tho the job made itself more complex as simple jobs allways do.

1st off the air compressor decided to become a fuse tester, the after an hour looking for 3/4 tacks I gave up not even opened the box.

But After some cobbling nail gun back in play, the lightweight gas line on it is defiantly staying no matter what tho. So much nicer to use without a workshop line and pcl’s hanging off it

Oooooh.....there's posh! I only use a hammer and plyers to hold a tack in place. I don't even use my Draper tack punch thingy anymore, due to it being too fiddly and inaccurate. I've just completed putting together around 150 frames and foundation. Never swallowed any tacks this time either! My 20 brood boxes can now be brought into play when needed.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I don't even use my Draper tack punch thingy anymore, due to it being too fiddly and inaccurate.

Rampin? bleddy awful things - and you still have to finish the job off with a hammer

 

[frankenstine]

Oooooh.....there's posh! I only use a hammer and plyers to hold a tack in place. I don't even use my Draper tack punch thingy anymore, due to it being too fiddly and inaccurate. I've just completed putting together around 150 frames and foundation. Never swallowed any tacks this time either! My 20 brood boxes can now be brought into play when needed.

well my preferred little hammer was poorly, but it's got a new handle now the replacement pin hammer was utter rubbish just couldn't get on with it normally a tack it two touches tap and whack , ( I'm picky about my hammers ) though quite agree it just as easy to do the job with a good pin hammer. i do much prefer the pin gun for making nucs not sure why I've made so Meany though think i just like making them but i had a LOT of OSB 3 offcuts so i just used them all up and made 12. got another 144 sheets fot another wasteful job turning up so god knows how Meany empty nucs ill have then

 

[Swn58]

Oooooh.....there's posh! I only use a hammer and plyers to hold a tack in place. I don't even use my Draper tack punch thingy anymore, due to it being too fiddly and inaccurate. I've just completed putting together around 150 frames and foundation. Never swallowed any tacks this time either! My 20 brood boxes can now be brought into play when needed.

This is from last year.
As I expand my operation, I can see that I am doomed!!! The rest of my life will involve ever more amounts of frames to build.
I may yet be ordering twenty more hives soon. I cannot see my partner getting involved in a 'romantic weekend' of frame making. It will be down to me Never mind aye.....better than working for a living?