What did you do in the 'workshop' today

[Nige.Coll]

electric nail gun.
uses 18 gauge brad nails so not heavy .
it can use upto 50 mm nails.

 

[REDWOOD]

Made some foundation from my DIY press it's a bit thick in places but I don't think the bees will mind that much, I will chuck a couple in a hive and see how they get on with it and if it proves to be troublesome then the whole thing will end up in the bin, nothing ventured nothing gained. Anyone got any ideas about which way to wire it with fishing line, some say criss cross pattern both sides

 

[REDWOOD]

Not advisable to make foundation in the kitchen........still getting a ear bashing about wax on the floor, worktops, cupboard doors and on the cat

 

[MuswellMetro]

Slightly behind on spare kit so I assembled four brood boxes and 33 frames that should ease the pressure, but will need a good few more frames yet.

well i did three 14x12 broods and made 14x12 frames up for four hours, now sitting with a bag of frozen peas on my wrist# a bit of RSI i think

 

[Tom Bick]

Made some foundation from my DIY press Anyone got any ideas about which way to wire it with fishing line, some say criss cross pattern both sides

Not quite the same but I simply fit two horizontal wires across the frames. If you are fitting foundation to pre wired frames dont you heat the wires so as to embed them in the wax? If so then wire will be the way to go. Or will the press allow you to run the fishing line through it so it is moulded into the wax? It will be interesting to see how you and your bees get on with the foundation from your press and a photo please.

 

[Tom Bick]

well i did three 14x12 broods and made 14x12 frames up for four hours, now sitting with a bag of frozen peas on my wrist# a bit of RSI i think

RSI Geoff I only thought you get that from inspecting 14X12'S

 

[Nige.Coll]

Thats where RSI got me lol

 

[Erichalfbee]

OUCH!!!


Showed husband video of Vita's hornet/wasp trap
He didn't say he wouldn't make me one

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

now sitting with a bag of frozen peas on my wrist# a bit of RSI i think

Can you get RSI on the thumb? Commenced securing starter strips onto nearly seventy top bars by fixing the strips into the groove with a few drops of molten wax:
Method? thin strips of broken wax foundation melted over the target area using a plastic disposable lighter - in the bright sunlight it is hard to see the flame therefore loads of false starts in getting the damn thing lit, slightly singed thumbs (switched hands after a while - great being ambidextrous!) and very sore from spinning the flywheel so many times - lighter also got very hot.
The meeting in my 'office' finally over, so back into the gloom - much easier to see the flame but then the flint gave up the ghost asked for matches, after a frantic search I was handed the orphanage's last three!! used two, kept the last one for lighting the smoker later (now there's a twist for the BBKA exam - one stone cold smoker, fresh fuel, one ropey safety match! - I passed BTW)
So back to London to source more matches and a lighter - to find out they only sell lighters in the big supermarkets (20 miles away!) But they also only sell matches in packs of ten boxes, so I should manage!
Early start tomorrow to get these top bars done before my tour of the farmers!

Which goes to prove that:

Anyone who likes TBH's must be a raving looooonatic! who needs his head put under a microscope

 

[Dishmop]

Easier way.

Use two thinner strips and clamp the wax between them.....
Or cut slot up those you have and just need a screw or nail in one end...

 

[Dishmop]

I just gave a nice fat juicy wasp to one of the hives to play with.

 

[REDWOOD]

Easer way, wrap some beeswax around a match and use it as a candle

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Easier way.

Use two thinner strips and clamp the wax between them.....
Or cut slot up those you have and just need a screw or nail in one end...

Got to follow the simple way from when I'm not here - no tools to do anything with anyway, or screwsw, or nails worth talking of. all the bars are 33mm wide with a saw cut down the middle (a lot of the time the bees will just follow this, but I'm just making them as attractive as possible to swarms.
The ministry gives out free foundation for TBH owners to make starter strips from which explains why there wasn't enough foundation to do all the hives Although noone had used any in the hives anyway, but it explains the stray Langstroth top bar with a starter strip in - it was the demonstration piece!

Easer way, wrap some beeswax around a match and use it as a candle

If only I had a match!!!!
that is basically the plan for tomorrow!

 

[Somerford]

Put up 2 heavy duty wooden shelves in my bee shed....wood was free, screws recycled. By end of Easter hols intend to have changed the lock to a more secure system, re proofed the timber outside, installed electricity and striplight, laid vinyl on the floor ready for extracting this year and washed out all the honey buckets.

Never a dull moment

S

 

[REDWOOD]

Not quite the same but I simply fit two horizontal wires across the frames. If you are fitting foundation to pre wired frames dont you heat the wires so as to embed them in the wax? If so then wire will be the way to go. Or will the press allow you to run the fishing line through it so it is moulded into the wax? It will be interesting to see how you and your bees get on with the foundation from your press and a photo please.

I like the idea of fishing line but some say if it is wired horizontally the bees will chew on it but if used in a criss cross direction then the bees will leave it alone. I didn't know until the other day that Dave Cushman used fishing line. I don't know if there is any real advantage in using fishing line only that the bees won't omit the cells where the wire is.
One day there will probably be a 3D wax printer available that will be able to print out sheets of foundation to any particular dimension and cell size, just press print, leave it run overnight and collect your 50 sheets of foundation the next morning

 

[pargyle]

Got to follow the simple way from when I'm not here - no tools to do anything with anyway, or screwsw, or nails worth talking of. all the bars are 33mm wide with a saw cut down the middle (a lot of the time the bees will just follow this, but I'm just making them as attractive as possible to swarms.
The ministry gives out free foundation for TBH owners to make starter strips from which explains why there wasn't enough foundation to do all the hives Although noone had used any in the hives anyway, but it explains the stray Langstroth top bar with a starter strip in - it was the demonstration piece!



If only I had a match!!!!
that is basically the plan for tomorrow!

Melt the foundation down in a tin can, make a crimp in the rim of the can and just dribble a bead along the kerf ...

I use triangular timber starter strips and just paint them with beeswax .. but I think they would manage without the starter strips as I made a mistake last week and shoved a frame in without a starter strip in in .. and away they went anyway !

 

[madasafish]

I use triangular starting strips. The bees manage well without any beeswax... Cheaper, quicker and simpler...I'm just a simple dumb beekeeper...KISS>

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Ah yes - the KISS principle - but you're all telling me this from the comfort of your cosy bespoke workshops with all kinds of fancy kit - here hi-tech means a fairly new hard pointer saw and not something handed down from your great grandfather and not set or sharpened since he turned eighteen!
I had the top bars made for me because I didn't have the time to spend hand sawing loads of old pallets (not my brief as well!!) - the joiner for the area had a 'proper job'workshop - bog standard ryobi hobbyist bench saw, electrict hand planer and ditto sander! the people round here probably wouldn't be able to afford the 50p or so each to get the simple top bars I had made there, let alone triangular top bars, which would have been my favoured choice.

Starter strips - because the ministry supply them free of charge to organised cooperatives (Mine isn't the first, but not far off) but i only found this out last week.
securing with a dot of wax - haven't even got a nice gas ring to heat loads of wax, also no loads of wax available!!
This is proper African top bar beekeeping - not the fancy dilettante urban eco-warrior sprinkle with icing sugar UK version

 

[Nige.Coll]

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=9969&stc=1&d=1397112140

i made 2 of these.

 

[oliver90owner]

i made 2 of these

Hope that was not copied exactly.

The sliding piece looks to be rather larger than necessary and I hope there is either a bee space or no space between the handle and the slide.

The closer the mesh is (to the edge) the less there is to get glued together. Vaseline on sliding parts would be good, so varnishing edges first is a good ploy.

But looks good enough to do the job.

RAB