What did you do in the 'workshop' today

[jenkinsbrynmair]

glued/nailed them to reclaimed DN4

thing is with dummy boards, you want them to sit flush against the sidebar of the end frame, using a spare frame top bar means there will be a wider gap than single beespace.

 

[JamezF]

thing is with dummy boards, you want them to sit flush against the sidebar of the end frame, using a spare frame top bar means there will be a wider gap than single beespace.

Mine seemed to sit ok against the Hoffman frame sides, but I'll check again just to be sure. They do have to be put in the correct way around though, because obviously the main part of the board is slightly off-centre.

James

 

[JamezF]

Today I started repairing a poly super that clearly had something fall on top of it, leaving round indentations in the top face. I clamped offcuts of ply smothered in vaseline to the walls and filled between them with car body filler. I couldn't build up the entire dent in one go, but the first lot should be pretty well hardened by tomorrow and I'll finish off then.

After that I used some of the 18mm ply I scavenged to make a box joint jig to use with my table saw which I'll use when making new floors and roofs. The first test on some scrap wood looked ok, though perhaps could have been better if I'd not used such a scabby piece of timber to start with. The jig is a relatively simple design, but the one I found that looks better requires tools to make it that I don't have so was a bit of a non-starter.

My son has been plying me with a few glasses of Lagavulin and Aberlour since dinner, so I shan't be playing with saws any more this evening.

James

 

[JamezF]

My first test joint:

James

 

[drex]

Beautiful. My skills and tools are to just butt them together and glue and screw. I make a lot of my own kit. Some is over 10 years old and still good. The bees don't care, but I admire craftsmanship

 

[JamezF]

Thank you. I'd have to admit that historically my approach has also been just to butt things together and glue/screw/nail them, but now I have a table saw again and discovered it could be done I felt I had to give it a try

James

 

[blackcloud]

It looks great - makes me want to have a try.
But in comparison to a S+G butt joint half the material has been removed from the ends of the timbers and there's a multitude of additional ingress opportunities.
Ok for parts that can hide under the roof though.

 

[JamezF]

I have four roofs in my pile of hive parts to repair. I say "repair", but pretty much all I'm keeping is the metal sheet of the roof cover. This evening I took three of them apart and cut ply/OSB to fit under each roof cover from the scraps I picked up the other day. The covers are all different sizes, varying by about 15mm. In my woodpile I found some offcuts of gravel board that have been lying about for years. I planed them down to 16mm to make some of the sides (which should give me 5mm clearance all round on a wooden hive for the smallest one) and discovered in the process that a few of the offcuts are actually cedar. I still need some more, but I'll focus on what I have for the time being, which is enough to complete two . Hopefully I should be able to get them done tomorrow and I'll have a hunt around to see if I can find enough bits to do the other two as well. The roofs I have are many and varied in design, particularly when it comes to the depth. I've decided to standardise at 100mm plus the thickness of whatever sheet material I used. Obviously they'll have no vents, which is one of the reasons I'm not re-using most of the original timber. I did notice on at least one that the mesh over the vent openings had been completely propolised up, which probably says everything you need to know about what the bees think about them.

I have a vague recollection that I've been told that PVA doesn't work very well with cedar because of the oils in the wood, but I'll have to check on that. If polyurethane is better then I have some of that as well so it shouldn't be an issue.

The waste from cutting down the OSB left me with enough to make three more dummy boards, so I cut those down to size. I don't desperately need any more right now, but there wasn't much else I could do with the waste and they'll surely come in handy one day.

The waste from planing down the gravel boards was, err, voluminous It filled two sacks. Fortunately I have a use for it. More of that another time, though it has just struck me that I could use it for making an old-fashioned style "quilts" to go over a crown board

James

 

[Brian Bush]

I made this grafting frame on Sunday

 

[JamezF]

I feel as though I've spent a lot of time in the workshop today without having much to show for it -- a rebuilt roof, an insulated perspex crownboard and the frame for a second.

Partly this is down to running out of timber that is wide enough for the roof repairs. I'm now gluing boards together to make pieces wide enough for the roof sides and using the planer/thicknesser to bring them down to size afterwards. It appears to have been quite successful so far and is good practice if I decide to do something similar in the future to make up hive walls. The other problem is that because I'm gluing the boards together I'm running out of clamps when I need them for other things. I think I have about sixteen in use at the moment.

Tomorrow I shall run out of some materials for the crownboards, so I'll see if I can finish the last seriously-needed roof repair and then move on to thinking about floor designs.

James

 

[JamezF]

Last roof done. Last crownboard (that I can make for the moment) done. The roof is quite a tight fit, but I couldn't really make it any bigger given that I was refitting the same galvanised roof cover. Not without making the sides ridiculously thin, anyhow.

I've also roughly cut down some timber to start making floor frames, though I haven't finalised a design yet, mostly because it depends what I end up using for the actual floor itself.

James

 

[Swn58]

I've bee struggling to extract my surprise early honey crop. It came about due to many acres of field beans being planted down at the farm. I have read the posts made a few years ago about bees and beans. Whatever the truth is, I do not doubt that the honey I have is from the beans that surround my apiary at the farm!
I brought out over forty frames of capped honey. Half of it was dealt with last week in my usual way, which is heat-gun, prickly-roller then into my extractor. Then it went through a double filter into a honey-bucket. Easy and less mess than it used to be! I noticed that the honey was extremely runny. It prompted me to buy a refractor, as it was enough of a concern. I did not want it to ferment. The first bucket of honey was gently 'de-humidified' for a few days in a cupboard. It is stable, still runny, but not clear.
However, the second batch, from the same hives is completely different. Bear in mind that there was no order to which frames were dealt with first. The second batch does not seem so runny and will barely go though the filters. It has also begun to solidify in the second bucket!
I will combine them both together to at least make potting slightly easier. I think I will also 'whip it up', using a drill and paddle, which should help. What looked like an easy task is turning into a bit of a trial.
I bought a wax-melter, that I am even considering using. It could warm up the honey, making it runny enough to get in the jars easier.
On the tasting notes front; the honey is very sweet, lacking the flowery perfume that later honey seems to have. There is a an undertone of caramel I think.

 

[JamezF]

Completed my first two UFEs today (with the exception of preservative -- I'm stacking up quite a few bits and pieces now for a massive painting session sometimes soon). Did most of the cutting for another two, but couldn't assemble them because I need the sash clamps that are holding the first two together whilst the glue dries. The process is taking somewhat longer than might be expected because I'm still using up scrap wood from the wood pile and no two of the four so far are exactly the same I'm hoping to get at least eight done before I have to start thinking about breaking up some pallets or, horror, buying timber.

More perspex for (insulated) clear crown boards arrived today, but I'm thinking they may be a lower priority. If they're not all ready by the end of the season I can always drop a square of insulation over the top of a standard crown board for Winter and swap them come Spring. I'd rather get as many hives as possible onto new floors this year.

James

 

[JamezF]

Another two floors done, and most of the cutting done for a further two, despite a power cut as a result of thunderstorms and the requisitioning of my "assembly table" by my daughter so she could paint a large mirror frame that she's had lying about the place for probably six months. (And of course now she's got around to painting it, the mirror needs reinstalling and the whole thing fixing on her bedroom wall by yours truly tomorrow, if not sooner.)

James

 

[JamezF]

It's like Groundhog Day Two more floors done, most parts cut for another two. It's getting more tricky now though: I'm starting to run out of suitable timber. I might end up having to plane down some scraps of decking and glue them together to make the last few bits I need for these.

I was planning to give myself some time off making stuff tomorrow, spending it playing with bees and painting preservative on what I've already done so I can shift it all out of the workshop, but the forecast has changed to be rain in the morning and rain most of the afternoon so I'll have to see what turns up.

James

 

[Wilco]

Assembled three UFE frames, just need to cut some ply for the middle and spacers for the edge.

Assembled 20 DN4 and 25 SN1.

Assembled (but not nailed yet) two national deeps I've had stashed from the BE sale at the start of the year. Bit disappointed to see this all the way along the handle of one so will be asking for a replacement part.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Assembled (but not nailed yet) two national deeps I've had stashed from the BE sale at the start of the year. Bit disappointed to see this all the way along the handle of one so will be asking for a replacement part.View attachment 32666

Well good luck with getting anything out of BE, my experience of their customer service has not been good.

 

[Wilco]

Well good luck with getting anything out of BE, my experience of their customer service has not been good.

I've found it depends which person you speak to. One person I was talking to there previously was beyond helpful then I think the next week another person took over that email thread and, subjectively, was quite different.

Unless there's a really good offer on I'm now tending to lean away from buying from them as that inconsistency in service coupled with significant lead times between ordering and delivery (I'm not expecting next day like StBK often seems to manage but if there's going to be a significant delay then they need to communicate it). This instance of poor QC also colours my view although accidents happen.

 

[JamezF]

Yay! UFEs seven and eight all made, and for the time being I've had enough. Not to mention having pretty much run out of wood to make the side rails and back from. It's a good start.

Next up I think I need some more rhombus escapes, but I need to order those first so I might try to get through a clear crown board or two whilst I'm waiting.

James

 

[Newbeeneil]

Knocked up a Morris board for the training apiary.