Some beekeepers find cover cloths are useful to lay across a box of combs to prevent the bees from running over the tops of the frames when the hive is open. They can be made from pieces of light deck-chair canvas or similar material, with a batten fixed at each end. The width of the material should be slightly greater than the length of the top-bars of the frames and the length just sufficient to allow a batten to hang over each side of the box.
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Wax Foundation
The invention of manufactured sheets of pure beeswax is one of the greatest boons to bee-keepers. This material consists of a thin sheet of beeswax impressed mechanically with the forms of the bases of the cells of honeycomb and the bases of the cell walls. This is sold in sheets of the correct sizes to fit in the wooden brood frames, shallow frames and sections. For brood frames, “worker foundation “is supplied. This ensures that the bees are induced to build worker cells in the brood chamber to the exclusion of drone cells. It should here be pointed out that it is a great disadvantage to have too many drone cells in the brood chamber for too many drones encourage swarming and, as they are not honey gatherers, consume large quantities of honey which might otherwise be stored. Bees, however, will not always draw out the worker foundation as worker cells. Sometimes they draw out the foundation part worker and part drone. The intermediate cells are called transition cells For shallow frames (supers ) drone foundation is recommended, because the bees do not store pollen in drone cells but only honey ,when honey is stored in drone cells it is more readily extracted than from worker cells. In natural surroundings bees build drone cells in which to store honey. It should be pointed out, however, that when drone foundation is used in the supers that a queen excluder is absolutely essential. There are other disadvantages in the use of drone combs. Sometimes the bees hesitate to go into drone combs until the queen has laid eggs in them. This is frustrated if a queen excluder is used. Further they cannot be used as food storage combs for the winter. There are some who think that the use of a queen excluder outweighs the advantages of drone cells for the storage of honey. It certainly is a great help to have drawn out worker combs in shallow frames to form an addition to the brood nest. On the whole drone combs for supers are preferable. There are approximately 28.87 worker cells to the square inch; each cell being approximately 1/5 in. in diameter. The cells are hexagonal in shape; two sides of the cells are vertical. This is important to remember for if the foundation is inserted with two sides horizontal, the bees will break down the foundation and build more drone but wired foundation alleviates this This causes delay and waste of effort on the part of the bees. Drone cells are larger than worker cells, being approximately 1/4in. diameter. There are 18.48 cells to the square inch. Foundation should be made from pure beeswax. Any foundation which is adulterated with any other material should be refused.Feeders
In the absence of adequate stores of food in the combs bees need to be fed with sugar syrup to ensure their survival. A feeder is, therefore, included among the essential initial items of equipment. Numerous types and sizes of feeder are available, but one should be chosen that will take at least half a gallon of syrup. The simplest, and in many ways the best type of feeder consists of a container filled with syrup, and closed with a perforated lid, which is then inverted over the feed hole of the hive. Such a feeder can be made from a jam jar honey can.* The plastic bucket feeder now on the market works on the same principle.Demaree ( Swarm Control )
In the year 1892, Mr. Demaree wrote to the American Bee Journal setting out his system of swarm control when the object of the bee-keeper was honey production. It is a system now widely practiced in this country and its popularity is due to its simplicity and its general success. However, if carried out as suggested by the originator, it is a dirty method of honey production for reasons explained later. It is, however, an excellent method of producing natural stores in brood sized combs, useful for helping out weak stocks and providing winter feed. First go through each comb of the stock and remove all Queen Cells in whatever state of development. Take out all combs with the exception of one having brood and place them in a clean prepared second brood-chamber, which is to be the upper storey. The brood-frame containing the Queen should be retained in the original brood-chamber. The number of brood-frames in the second chamber should be made up to ten in number and a division board fitted at one end. Likewise, the original brood-chamber should be filled up with brood-frames. More progress will, of course, be made if the added brood- frames have drawn out comb. Again, a division board should be fitted to this brood-chamber, and care should be taken to see that it is fitted at the same end as the one fitted in the second brood-chamber. Now place a Queen excluder over the first brood-chamber and over this place the second brood-chamber. In this way the Queen has a completely new brood-chamber in which to lay and continues laying at a rapid rate. Meanwhile, au the bees in the brood-combs above are hatching out rapidly and these young bees provide the Queen with a constant supply of nurse bees. All the cells in the upper storey will be vacated within twenty-one days of the operation being carried out. The hive will have an enormous population with a Queen laying rapidly. If there has been a honey flow most of the cells in the upper storey will have been filled with honey as soon as they aie vacated by the emerging bees. If the honey flow still continues the combs in the upper storey should be extracted and the operation repeated. Dr. Butler has discovered what he considers to be an improvement on this system. He always places a shallow super complete with combs between the two brood-chambers at the first operation. The advantages of this system are, first, that the Queen is never cramped for laying room and therefore one of the predisposing causes of swarming is removed; and secondly, that the system provides a large stock of bees for honey collection. The disadvantages are first, that unless the operation is repeated after 21 days there is every possibility of the hive being so crowded that swarming is merely postponed and the swarm may leave at the height of the honey flow. Secondly, the honey produced is regarded by some as “dirty honey.” It has been stored in cells where grubs have developed and left their excreta behind and nymphs into bees and they in their turn having left their outer skins behind. They say it is not honey which a clean bee-keeper would eat himself and therefore he should not sell it to the public. This particular objection may perhaps be negative when we are told by observers that during a good honey flow the field bees usually place the nectar they have collected in the first available cell in the brood-chamber often on top of an egg or even a young larva. Thirdly, there is one danger which is not always explained about this system—and that is that unless every care is taken to prevent Queen cells maturing in the upper storey after the transfer to it of brood, a Queen may hatch out which cannot get through the excluder which may result in either a swarm emerging after all or the virgin Queen becoming a drone layer, as she is unable to get out of the hive to mate Therefore it is essential that after two or three days the bee-keeper should go through the upper storey and cut out any Queen cells which may have been formed in the interim. This is most important and should be repeated after a period of seven days. There are those who think that if the Queen cells are cut out of the upper storey that the bees cannot place a young enough grub or egg in the upper storey. Some experience shows that bees will fetch eggs from the lower storey even 10 days later. This system is often used when the bee-keeper desires to increase his stocks, for in the upper storey the bees will often after the operation has been carried out make a large number of Queen cells. These can be made into nuclei which will be helped on rapidly by the large number of young bees which will shortly hatch out.Dartington Description
The Dartington Long Deep (DLD) hive takes 14 x 12 inch and can take up to 17 frames. It is possible to have 2 colonies in the brood box as there is an entrance at either end. It has half size honey supers which take 6 frames can be used which are lighter than full supers and are therefore easier to lift. The Dartington originally developed by Robin Dartington so that he could keep bees on his London rooftop.Crown Board
Also known as the inner cover / clearer board / top cover There and many and various “Top Covers” for bee hive with many uses. This is essentially an inner roof to suit the hive size in use, with either no holes in it, or a combination of circular and elongated rectangles to suit the need of the hive / beekeeper. Some holes are circular and these are sometimes referred to as a feeder board that allow access to syrup feeder that usually has circular access to match the diameter of the board Some have the elongated rectangles to suit porter bee escapes If not “devices” are in use a piece of metal gauze can be used to allow hive ventilation, although the bees may “glue” this closed There can also be a “see through” version in glass or polycarbonate to allow the hive to be visually inspected with ne need to open the hive at all…This is great for beginners This is more usually referred to as a “Glass Quilt”, this may or may not can of course be equipped with the holes as mentioned It is usually trimmed with a wooden edge to allow a bee space above the framesCover Cloths
The battens should be heavy enough to keep the cloth flat when laid over the hive and to prevent it being blown off by the wind. The battens, used as rollers, enable a pair of cover cloths to be used so as to expose one frame at a time when examining a set of combs in a brood box or super.