What did you do in the 'workshop' today

[W0otz]

cut the feeders out added some 14 x 12 converters and turned them into 8 frame nucs or mini hives if you prefer to call them that.

By surface area 8 14x12 frames is actually slightly more than 11 national frames, so they're hardly mini hives! Buy a few supers and there's no reason you can't keep a colony in there indefinitely providing the queen's not too prolific.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

added some 14 x 12 converters

If you'd have said - got three 14x12 Paynes poly extensions here gathering dust in the shed

 

[Moobee]

Bought some more frames and wax as have an out apiary to stock! The cost of supers and brood boxes has shot up….. anyone tried Anatolian cedar boxes? Any good? They seem a bit better priced but not sure if they will be as good as western red cedar.

 

[pargyle]

By surface area 8 14x12 frames is actually slightly more than 11 national frames, so they're hardly mini hives! Buy a few supers and there's no reason you can't keep a colony in there indefinitely providing the queen's not too prolific.

I find they are great for overwintering a small colony ... they can get enough stores in there to just about see them through but they are versatile as I can dummy them down to three or four frames in the centre and they are a really toasty box for a split or AS.

I have supers for them if they are needed although I usually just have them on the top of the crown board full of Celotex.

 

[pargyle]

If you'd have said - got three 14x12 Paynes poly extensions here gathering dust in the shed

We can talk about those .....

 

[JamezF]

Been raining here since I got up this morning (and shockingly early for me too, as I was at the sports centre with my daughter at 8:15am so the two of us could discuss doing some coaching with a local triathlon club). I have therefore been making up frames ready for foundation. Brood first, as I might actually use some tomorrow. After that I have a stack of super frames to get through. Can't actually complain about the rain for once. I don't think we had more than an hour's rainfall in total during April.

I would really like to get some more done this evening, but I've just got back from swimming and I'm so tired I can barely stand up so unless dinner revives me I don't think I'll actually be doing many more.

James

 

[JamezF]

Also realised today that a large pile (quite possibly more than 500) of 1" square hardwood tree stakes I have left over from a project I helped someone with years ago might well be quite useful for making up edges for crown and split boards, ekes and other odds and ends. I might have to get the planer/thicknesser out for a play to see what is achievable.

James

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

anyone tried Anatolian cedar boxes? Any good? They seem a bit better priced but not sure if they will be as good as western red cedar

Never bothered with WRC - the carbon footprint is massive for a start.
Always used British cedar or 'second quality' as some like to call it.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Spent all day yesterday cutting timber and constructing a batch of Underfloor entrance OMF's and repairing some of my older ones.
Spent a relaxing day today painting them!

 

[JamezF]

I finished making up something like 75 brood frames ready for foundation and seeing them all stacked up in the house I realised that the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) was probably rather low, so had a bit of a poke around in my piles of junk to see what I might have to make up some storage for them. I've found what I think may be quite a novel solution, but in the process of building it I discovered that the breaker had tripped on the workshop sockets. Possibly the rain has got in somewhere it shouldn't have or as was the case last time this happened, the neutral may be shorting to earth via a rat.

A more detailed investigation wasn't really possible as I need to move stuff out of the workshop to get at the cabling and rain still threatened, so I grabbed another package of parts and made up fifty super frames. Might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb...

James

 

[JamezF]

Right, electrics in the workshop temporarily fixed (actually, not fixed at all, but they were working again for a while and we didn't find the problem) so I dug out some scrap timber and two sets of side rails from old beds that the children used to have. Literally no expense has been spent to come up with this:

No, it's not a set of bunk beds for very skinny acrophobics. Here's an "action shot".

Yes! The world's first double-decker xylophone!

Or perhaps not

It holds around 100 frames which is not really as many as I need, but it gets an awful lot of them out of the house meaning my soft underparts can now lower their alert level to amber. I can probably rest four brood boxes or supers on top of the rails to hold more frames if necessary.

I know what you're thinking... "Is there no beginning to this man's talents?"

James

 

[user 20297]

Right, electrics in the workshop temporarily fixed (actually, not fixed at all, but they were working again for a while and we didn't find the problem) so I dug out some scrap timber and two sets of side rails from old beds that the children used to have. Literally no expense has been spent to come up with this:

No, it's not a set of bunk beds for very skinny acrophobics. Here's an "action shot".

Yes! The world's first double-decker xylophone!

Or perhaps not

It holds around 100 frames which is not really as many as I need, but it gets an awful lot of them out of the house meaning my soft underparts can now lower their alert level to amber. I can probably rest four brood boxes or supers on top of the rails to hold more frames if necessary.

I know what you're thinking... "Is there no beginning to this man's talents?"

James

Excellent!

 

[E&MBees]

Right, electrics in the workshop temporarily fixed (actually, not fixed at all, but they were working again for a while and we didn't find the problem) so I dug out some scrap timber and two sets of side rails from old beds that the children used to have. Literally no expense has been spent to come up with this:

No, it's not a set of bunk beds for very skinny acrophobics. Here's an "action shot".

Yes! The world's first double-decker xylophone!

Or perhaps not

It holds around 100 frames which is not really as many as I need, but it gets an awful lot of them out of the house meaning my soft underparts can now lower their alert level to amber. I can probably rest four brood boxes or supers on top of the rails to hold more frames if necessary.

I know what you're thinking... "Is there no beginning to this man's talents?"

James

Will they have any weather protection?

 

[JamezF]

Will they have any weather protection?

It's only outside as a temporary measure (currently under a tarp). Once I get the bee shed moved/rebuilt it will probably go inside, though I am considering having a sort of "verandah" on at least one side of the rebuilt shed for covered storage so it might well go there.

James

 

[elainemary]

Eventually we got round to putting up our Xmas present from my lovely mum. She always puts a lot of thought into apt gifts and this one was made by her local blacksmith & is perfect! Hopefully will get years of pleasure seeing it spin in the westerlies we get up here in the Pennines

 

[JamezF]

Eventually we got round to putting up our Xmas present from my lovely mum.

That's rather nice. Mine is considerably less attractive

James

 

[Erichalfbee]

That's rather nice. Mine is considerably less attractive

James

Wow... I'll swap you mine

 

[MintyHerbert]

This is my weathervane, made by my son out of an old diesel tank that was going for scrap

 

[elainemary]

This is my weathervane, made by my son out of an old diesel tank that was going for scrap

Brilliant! What a star, bet that’s you on the vane!

 

[Swarm]

Is it a feature that the 'N' on all of them is reversed?