CloverKnollFarms
Super Member
Exactly. It usually requires intensive sugar feeding.
Beekeeping
- Thread starter LittleBittyBigJohn
- Start date
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Exactly. It usually requires intensive sugar feeding.
OP
LittleBittyBigJohn
Veteran Member
It's more about availability of resources than time. Generally if you aren't seeing lots of wildflowers then there is not a nectar flow for them to be able to forage. There is a fall bloom of goldenrod to help them top off for winter but late June through September is pretty hard on them.
There are not many swarms during the dearth for that reason.
CloverKnollFarms
Super Member
Bees are starting to hit the buckwheat field. This is my favorite time of year!
CloverKnollFarms
Super Member
Inspecting all 16 hives this week. This one is in a beautiful spot
CloverKnollFarms
Super Member
Broke down 8 more sheets of plywood for hives. 90F isn't my favorite temperature to work in, but I dont have time to wait for cooler weather.
Set up a nice little cross cutting table for making square cuts fast and precise with the new Hercules cordless circular saw. Also using a fine finish Bauer blade... Wow these are the prettiest cuts I've ever made!
Also, Menards BCX looks like ACX... It's beautiful
Set up a nice little cross cutting table for making square cuts fast and precise with the new Hercules cordless circular saw. Also using a fine finish Bauer blade... Wow these are the prettiest cuts I've ever made!
Also, Menards BCX looks like ACX... It's beautiful
ponytug
Super Member
Nice! Any photos of your cross cut sled? Crosscutting sheets exactly always seems to be a challenge for me.
All the best, Peter
CloverKnollFarms
Super Member
Not a sled, a jig on a table. No photos at the moment
I didn't expect getting into bees to make me pay closer attention to what's growing and blooming, but alas here we are
. At the end of our private drive/street I've discovered we have a number of large mimosa trees. They're invasive, but supposedly a good source of nectar so I'm hoping my ladies have found them.They appear to have given up on our cucumber and tomatillo flowers in the garden, though the bumble bees still seem to love them. And only ever saw one or two on our lavender bushes out front, but again 10-20 bumble bees. I wonder - do the bumbles bully them off?
CloverKnollFarms
Super Member
I didn't expect getting into bees to make me pay closer attention to what's growing and blooming, but alas here we are
They appear to have given up on our cucumber and tomatillo flowers in the garden, though the bumble bees still seem to love them. And only ever saw one or two on our lavender bushes out front, but again 10-20 bumble bees. I wonder - do the bumbles bully them off?
Honey bees will gravitate toward the most nutritional food source available. So, they will forage on different plants at different times, solely because of what is more nutritional. Some months they are not interested in clover at all, others, they are flocking to it.
I'll see bumbles, honey bees, wasps, all feeding together on the buckwheat.
CloverKnollFarms
Super Member
So this is the MDF slab I use to rip the sheets. I have two pieces of wood as a strait edge screwed into the edge. I then just clamp a 6' aluminum box level to it... Square it with a digital angle finder. Then I can slide strips of plywood under it, measure, cross cut, cross cut, cross cut... Everything square with very little effort
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ponytug
Super Member
That's great! Thanks for posting the photo.
All the best,
Peter
All the best,
Peter
CloverKnollFarms
Super Member
12 hours to cut the lumber for 6 more hives. I love being well stocked with parts. The lumber this time around was the best I've seen in 6 years of building these.
I need 3 myself.
I have commitments for 10 to be sold.
I need 3 myself.
CloverKnollFarms
Super Member
Finished up a few more hives. I changed the gable end design. Instead of a full opening with screen, I semi enclosed it. Looks better and will keep out some wind driven rain/snow.
These are for colonies that have been in non insulated hives all summer, and have been struggling with the heat. These insulated hives should help a lot.
These are for colonies that have been in non insulated hives all summer, and have been struggling with the heat. These insulated hives should help a lot.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
It might be fun to see how they have evolved. Do you have pictures of your first one? Then more pictures of each version as you learn more about designing them and what works best?
CloverKnollFarms
Super Member
I have some from way back. The changes are small, or internal. Small like adding latches, adding cable lanyards to hold the lid open, making the lid 1" taller to accommodate insulation for winter.
Some internal parts were made thicker to assist in assembly and resist warping, since I often cut pieces months in advance.
CloverKnollFarms
Super Member
We used to get more artistic... But that takes too much time and energy at this point.
Now I fill all the staple holes with putty and sand before paint. I chamfer all of the corners. I sand the boxes between coats of paint to make them super smooth.
Now I fill all the staple holes with putty and sand before paint. I chamfer all of the corners. I sand the boxes between coats of paint to make them super smooth.
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I was told that to reduce bee drift I should paint the boxes in different colors. I would assemble a batch of boxes and that batch would all be 1 color while the next batch would be a different color. I person who told me this was a commercial beekeeper.
Back in the day commercials would have rows of hives all the same color, so new foragers would leave the middle hives and get confused on return ,drift to the end of the row and as they were young they would be accepted into the hive, so the end hives would have more honey than the middle hives.
Locally the commercials have gone for palleted hives, short rows and irregular gaps and use a load strap to hold the hive togather. They can be knocked over if cattle rub on them, so holding the hive togather will prevent robbing and hold heat in (winter) and rain out. In winter this means you pickup a live hive, not a dead one.
Back in the day commercials would have rows of hives all the same color, so new foragers would leave the middle hives and get confused on return ,drift to the end of the row and as they were young they would be accepted into the hive, so the end hives would have more honey than the middle hives.
Locally the commercials have gone for palleted hives, short rows and irregular gaps and use a load strap to hold the hive togather. They can be knocked over if cattle rub on them, so holding the hive togather will prevent robbing and hold heat in (winter) and rain out. In winter this means you pickup a live hive, not a dead one.
CloverKnollFarms
Super Member
Once the hives are far enough apart, drift isn't an issue. We don't stack them nearly as close as the langstroth beeks do, so drift isn't an issue
fishin coyote
New member
I could never set my hives up like your picture Clover. The local bear(s) would have a field day. I have to keep mine under lock and key.
I will say that your hives intrigue me. I’ve tried top bars in the past but wasn’t a fan of them.
I will say that your hives intrigue me. I’ve tried top bars in the past but wasn’t a fan of them.
CloverKnollFarms
Super Member
Top bars are too shallow for a healthy winter cluster. These are 15" deep frames