What did you do in the 'workshop' today

[Tremyfro]

Thx...I have found if I edit the photo...even a little bit...then it posts the right way up....yay even an old lady can sort out a technical hitch...lol

 

[Swarm]

Two cedar nationals converted to TBS.

 

[Fusion_power]

Did you ever want to make sloped bottom boards so water won't puddle inside during a storm? I built a slide for my table saw to hold the rail at the proper angle. When ready to cut rails, set up the dado with 3/4" stack or as needed for the thickness of the boards for the bottom.

Measure and cut a board 28 inches long by 6 inches wide of the same stock the bottom board rails will be cut from. Mark that board at center on one end and center on the other end. There should be 3 inches on the left and 3 inches on the right of each mark. Now make a mark 1/4 inch to the left on one end of the board and 1/4 inch to the right on the other end. Straight edge and mark the line so that the slant will be correct. If you do not want a 1/2 inch slope in the bottom board, try 7/32 or 3/16 on each end. Rip the board free hand down the line. Now cut two end boards about 8 inches long and 3 inches wide. Place a piece of your rail stock in the middle, then glue and screw it together. I put mine on the table saw and used the edges of the cast iron top to square it up. Cut a small block to fit underneath at one end and glue it in place. This block will keep the rail from moving while cutting the groove. When finished and the glue is dry, you can trim the edges and sand smooth if you choose. It took less than 15 minutes to make this one. Note that you will need two of these, one for the left side and one for the right, or it is possible to put another set of wood pieces on this one so it can be flipped over to make the mirror image rail.

 

[SDM]

You won't find many using dado stacks in the UK. Table saws are made with arbours too short to take them.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Did you ever want to make sloped bottom boards so water won't puddle inside during a storm? I built a slide for my table saw to hold the rail at the proper angle. When ready to cut rails, set up the dado with 3/4" stack or as needed for the thickness of the boards for the bottom.

Thanks for posting FP, a nice simple and easy to make jig. We use sloping bottom boards on all our hives, the system used for grooving the side rails is a more complicated jig, adjustable sliding carriage, which slots into the grooves of a cast iron saw, and the cut made the same with a stacked dado.

 

[Little John]

Did you ever want to make sloped bottom boards so water won't puddle inside during a storm? I built a slide for my table saw to hold the rail at the proper angle.

That's a very nice workman-like solution. The technique I use is to raise the rear legs of the stand, by increasing the height of their supporting pads - so that the whole hive then leans forward by 5-10 degrees. I guess in your country, you'd call that a 'red-reck' method ?
LJ

 

[madasafish]

That's a very nice workman-like solution. The technique I use is to raise the rear legs of the stand, by increasing the height of their supporting pads - so that the whole hive then leans forward by 5-10 degrees. I guess in your country, you'd call that a 'red-reck' method ?
LJ

I am the same..

Well not quite as mine are on uneven grass so a degree of fiddling around is required.

 

[Little John]

In the workshop at the moment - I'm making-up box sides and ends (from pallet-wood) with which to make-up nuc boxes - dozens and dozens of 'em. Beginning to feel the pressure right now, as Spring isn't that far away. There's so much to do, and so little time.
One consoling thought is that I'll soon be 'maxing-out' box-wise, so won't need to repeat this performance again next year. Might even get to have a lie-in on some mornings ...
LJ

 

[Little John]

Have just finished the second of two rather unusual 14x12 nuc boxes which will initially be used as 20L swarm bait boxes, and then combined (stacked together) for an experiment.

Why "unusual" ? Well, both boxes will have vertical entrances - running right from top to bottom. Afaik, no-one has tested this entrance format before.

I forsee two possible outcomes - either the bees will seal-up the entrances with propolis until either an entrance at the top or the bottom is left (which should be interesting) - or more likely, I suspect, they'll leave the box entrances 'as is' and convert the first combs into baffles by coating them with propolis instead. I've seen them do something similar before.

Either way - the outcome should be interesting to see.
LJ

 

[Erichalfbee]

Stan and I drilled varying diameter holes in some very hard logs to make a bee house for solitary bees

 

[colinc]

Stan and I drilled varying diameter holes in some very hard logs to make a bee house for solitary bees

We get three or four solitaries breeds I have spotted in our garden and we find them whenever we dig but one type seems to prefer the screw holes in the housing for the hosepipe reel.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Erichalfbee]

I asked the wasp/bees/ants FB page what to drill and where to site so am hopeful. Somebody last year....somewhere, I forget.....posted a video of a leafcutter bee trimming a leaf and flying into one of those shop bought bug houses....it was a great bit of filming

 

[bjosephd]

I asked the wasp/bees/ants FB page what to drill and where to site so am hopeful. Somebody last year....somewhere, I forget.....posted a video of a leafcutter bee trimming a leaf and flying into one of those shop bought bug houses....it was a great bit of filming

Ooh. And what was the answer? Particular re hole diameters?

I'm guessing I'm a shady sheltered area?

 

[wightbees]

LJ , I'm finding my bees prefer top entrance. This wasn't my doing, it has happened by chance! Since the two colonies given the option of top or bottom, they both like the top. The bottom entrance is clear, I checked. Also there brood is not close to this entrance that I could tell. I might try some more out of interest.

 

[Swarm]

Next door sited some driftwood logs around a decked area, we had Leafcutters doing trips, like little Chinooks, from our Rambling rose to their logs. Being soft in places, the bees had no problems creating their own holes, there were little piles of sawdust all around the logs.
8mm holes in wood or brick will soon have solitaries investigating. Sunny situation is best.

 

[Brigsy]

Made and used a steam frame wax melter thingy from a wallpaper steamer and bee bits and bobs. Worked very well. I now have loads of frames to clean up a tad and get ready for fresh foundation. Having started on a couple I'm not sure I can be bothered!

Maybe I will just use it to prepare wax for recycling for foundation and stick with new frames? Or maybe I'm being lazy.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ooh. And what was the answer? Particular re hole diameters?

I'm guessing I'm a shady sheltered area?

Swarm's got it.
8, 6 and 4mm all 10cm deep. Off the ground in the sunshine

 

[Little John]

LJ , I'm finding my bees prefer top entrance. This wasn't my doing, it has happened by chance! Since the two colonies given the option of top or bottom, they both like the top. The bottom entrance is clear, I checked. Also there brood is not close to this entrance that I could tell. I might try some more out of interest.

Well - I'm not entirely surprised ...
Like a lot of folk, I've been religiously running bottom entrances for years - partly because it fits 'the theory', and with OMF it kinda 'makes sense' ... and yet so many Americans are really keen re: using top entrances.

So - "sod it", thinks I - I'll let the bees decide what they want, and take it from there. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they decide to do.

My first thought was to cut a single slot from top to bottom, but although that is still favourite, I also need to retain the integrity of the box somehow - so my current plan is to drill a 10mm hole every 1.5" - so that's 7 holes vertically in a line per box, or 14 holes for the stack of two boxes. I hope that compromise represents a near-valid equivalent to the slot. Then afterwards, I can simply drill-out those holes to 12mm and glue-in lengths of dowel rod before returning the boxes to more regular use.
LJ

 

[Erichalfbee]

My wild bee box has three holes. One at the bottom one in the middle and one near the top. All stoppered with a wine bottle cork till the swarming season

 

[Millet]

My wild bee box has three holes. One at the bottom one in the middle and one near the top. All stoppered with a wine bottle cork till the swarming season

Where do you get them from, them elusive wine bottle corks have my head damaged.. lol , do you have a ebay link.. lol..