What to do with bees below clearer board?

[RogerJ]

I've just been using a rhombus clearer board (courtesy of Dave Cushman's website) and so I have ended up with a load of bees in the space below. Having then removed the super how do get the bees out of this space so I can put the crown board back on immediately above the lower super?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Millet]

Smoke maybe..?

 

[enrico]

I presume you have the, in an eke or empty super. One sharp knock on the top of the hive and they will all fall onto the top of the frames. A quick squirt of fabispray will drive any bees down as they hate the stuff. I keep a can for times when I have to put a nasty hive back together in a hurry! Worth keeping in your box of tricks!
E

 

[RogerJ]

There's quite a lot of bees though to shift with smoke I would have thought (but this is my first season so experience is limited!)

I did wonder if you could just prop it up in front of the hive and the bees would leave in their own time - assuming the weather was reasonable. Would there be anything wrong with that?

I made it with a large rim below - so effectively with a built in eke.

 

[enrico]

Don't be afraid, just knock them in.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yep......just a sharp knock on top of the hive and most of them will be in...... then prop the board up at the entrance.

 

[Millet]

There's quite a lot of bees though to shift with smoke I would have thought (but this is my first season so experience is limited!)

I did wonder if you could just prop it up in front of the hive and the bees would leave in their own time - assuming the weather was reasonable. Would there be anything wrong with that?

I made it with a large rim below - so effectively with a built in eke.

Don't listen to me.. lol .. i would have tried smoke then asked on here if it did not work..

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

same as Enrico and Erica, hold the crownboard vertically over the hive, shart tap with the flat of the hand against one edge and they will all fall back in.

 

[Thymallus]

Sheehan, just reminded me I put a rhombus on a few days ago.....job for the morning. A timely topic. And yes good sharp tap does the trick.

 

[BeeJayBee]

There's quite a lot of bees though to shift with smoke I would have thought (but this is my first season so experience is limited!)

I did wonder if you could just prop it up in front of the hive and the bees would leave in their own time - assuming the weather was reasonable. Would there be anything wrong with that?

I made it with a large rim below - so effectively with a built in eke.

You can do that, if you want to, but it will take them longer to get back inside the hive than if you shake them in.

 

[Hawklord]

Put the crown board on below the clearer board before you clear the supers - make sure there is a hole in your crown board.

 

[YorkshireBees]

There's quite a lot of bees though to shift with smoke I would have thought (but this is my first season so experience is limited!)

I did wonder if you could just prop it up in front of the hive and the bees would leave in their own time - assuming the weather was reasonable. Would there be anything wrong with that?

I made it with a large rim below - so effectively with a built in eke.

Either way will work. I used to knock them off but feel if I have the time I prefer to prop the board in front of the hive entrance and let them walk back in. It's also amazing to watch!

 

[RogerJ]

Put the crown board on below the clearer board before you clear the supers - make sure there is a hole in your crown board.

Can I ask why please?

Thanks for the various replies. I got there in the end - luckily the sun came out today (eventually)! I found that the bees on the underside of the rhombus itself decided to stay put (perhaps I wasn't firm enough?) so I propped the board up outside the hive and when I checked later most had gone except for a small cluster in one corner which I did manage to dislodge with a knock.

I did find that the super didn't clear very well though with quite a few bees on the frames. Managed to shift them with the bee brush - is that normal?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Put the crown board on below the clearer board before you clear the supers - make sure there is a hole in your crown board.

Can I ask why please?

I think his logic is that when you get to remove the clearer board the crown board will be in place and the bees will have all gone down the hole into the hive - bit pointless IMHO, but if you go down that road, remember, when you remove the clearer board to also bloch the hole in the crown board with a piece of plywood or slate

 

[enrico]

Some supers clear in a day and some don't. It seems to me that a couple of things influence this..... Any brood will stop them leaving it and up ripe honey seems to slow them down too. It is very easy to block the hole you want them to go down with the frame above it so if after 24 hours you still have bees in there then just turn the super through 90 degrees. It may free the hole up more. I also like to have a decent space between the bottom of the clearer board and the frames below it. Sometimes I will put an eke there.
Hope this helps a little, as you have found out a brush or tap each frame as you check it will dislodge the remaining few.
E

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Put the crown board on below the clearer board before you clear the supers - make sure there is a hole in your crown board.

Disagree - leave the crownboard on top of the supers to contain the bees within the greater hive. The bees that move down through the clearer will be in any lower boxes or in the case of my rhombus clearer in the integral eke space of the unit.
Once your super is clear of bees simply remove the super and clearer board then shift the crownboard to cap the remaining hive boxes. This will be the brood box and any supers you have chosen to leave.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Originally Posted by Hawklord
Put the crown board on below the clearer board before you clear the supers - make sure there is a hole in your crown board.

Have you actually tried this?

 

[Hawklord]

Originally Posted by Hawklord
Put the crown board on below the clearer board before you clear the supers - make sure there is a hole in your crown board.

Have you actually tried this?

This is how I've always done it. I also put an empty super under the brood box before clearing at this time of year as those bees from the supers need somewhere to go.

 

[Hawklord]

Disagree - leave the crownboard on top of the supers to contain the bees within the greater hive. The bees that move down through the clearer will be in any lower boxes or in the case of my rhombus clearer in the integral eke space of the unit.
Once your super is clear of bees simply remove the super and clearer board then shift the crownboard to cap the remaining hive boxes. This will be the brood box and any supers you have chosen to leave.

And when you've got 3 or 4 supers worth of bees in the clearer board space what happens when you remove the clearer. I found out last year, they all fell out onto the ground.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

And when you've got 3 or 4 supers worth of bees in the clearer board space what happens when you remove the clearer. I found out last year, they all fell out onto the ground.

It shouldn't be beyond your ability to shake them into the hive but they're your bees you do what you want with them. My way works for me.