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Author Topic: clearing boards and hive mats  (Read 3391 times)

Offline crispy

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clearing boards and hive mats
« on: February 12, 2020, 10:38:18 pm »
Hi all more questions , watched a video on clearing boards the other day seems like a good idea does anyone use them and is it worth while ,also hive mats im not sure what they are made out of but i have sen people use flyscreen ,plastic ,and other things .Now from what i cn gather it is to stop the bees from building comb in the lid am i right on this assumption ?

Offline crispy

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Re: clearing boards and hive mats
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2020, 07:21:19 pm »
Anyone ?

Online BeeMaster2

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Re: clearing boards and hive mats
« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2020, 08:09:50 pm »
I made two clearer boards. It takes about 24 hours for them to work. If there is any pollen or brood anywhere in the frames above the clearer boards the SHBs are laying eggs everywhere. If you end up delaying extracting the honey, in 72 hours, the SHB larvae are hatched out sliming all of the honey.
I got rid of mine.
Jim Altmiller
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline crispy

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Re: clearing boards and hive mats
« Reply #3 on: February 14, 2020, 11:05:05 pm »
Hi jim the fellow i watched was from new zealand he said about 24 hours as well i will have a queen excluder between my brood box and honey super so there shouldnt be any brood up there and and will only extarct honey when fully capped ,i know some people dont and if a frame is 3/4 capped they still extract which to my thinking defeats the purpose of extracting .

Offline Anybrew2

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Re: clearing boards and hive mats
« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2020, 01:08:56 am »
Hi there I use them and they take at least 24hrs, you will still have a few Bee's in the Super but I find it makes the job easier and less angry Bee's.
I also use excluders.

Steve

Offline Skeggley

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Re: clearing boards and hive mats
« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2020, 08:25:54 pm »
Hiya crispy, one of the reasons we use hive mats is because we use migratory lids on risers here in Oz and this messes with bee space. It mimics being the top of the hive and above it is seen as outside the hive. They will still build in the roof and when they do it?s time for action. As they lay directly on the frames, air movement within the hive is regulated. Some of my mats have a hole in the middle. I think, in SHB areas, hive mats can be beetle traps also as bees propolise the beetles between the frame and mat so be beetle squish ready when lifting the mat.
The mat should have a gap around the outside so the bees can still access the ceiling space.
I use the mat to cover frames I?m not inspection when inspecting.

Offline crispy

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Re: clearing boards and hive mats
« Reply #6 on: February 16, 2020, 06:30:20 am »
Hi skeggley so if using a hive mat it should really only cover the frames which is what i have seen on videos is this correct , i was watching a video of a guy here in south aus and he was looking after hives for a older gent that hadnt bee looked at for a while and they had really built in the top i dont know if there is anyway to stop this from happening .

Offline Bamboo

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Re: clearing boards and hive mats
« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2020, 04:23:10 am »
Hi Crispy
Hive mats are a good barrier especially when you have heaps of comb built in the lid. When you crack the lid you break the comb which would be attached to the top of the frames if you don't have a hive mat and creates a mess of honey dripping into hive, potential robbing issues while you are tying to clean up mess and if you are really unlucky drowning the queen. However when you crack a lid and see all the comb the message is a another super as it is full below! It happens to all of us as some flows just get out of hand before you can get enough supers on.
Clearer boards are good, saves having a super full of bees to deal with altho the sthil blower is the fastest way and saves having to go back to apiary the next day.
Cheers
Mark

Offline crispy

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Re: clearing boards and hive mats
« Reply #8 on: February 18, 2020, 08:10:08 pm »
Hi mate i have watched a few videos where that is exactly what has happened the hives have been left for a while by an older bee keeper and when the lid is cracked what a mess ,i know there are things called propolis mats but i think im getting ahead of myself with those just at the moment . I have seen hive mats made from old flyscreen and it seems to stop some of the build up in the top ,i think the clearing mats might be a good idea and i am just in the process of making a couple up from some left over ply from a door i built recently ,i am not sure of the blower would do the bees any good though if i had bought a small makita blower it might be a help to .

Offline Bamboo

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Re: clearing boards and hive mats
« Reply #9 on: February 19, 2020, 07:09:49 am »
Blowers don't hurt bees, it causes less damage than brushing them off. They don't even get cranky when you do it, have been doing it for years, if it upset the bees they would let you know about it!

Offline ianski

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Re: clearing boards and hive mats
« Reply #10 on: April 12, 2020, 10:18:16 pm »
I've just started using a blower but found it's not clearing the bees out as easily as I'd thought it would be. Could be because I'm using 10-frame honey supers. I'm trialling a 9-frame super now to see how the comb gets drawn out and no doubt it'll be easier to clear with the blower with all that extra space between the frames.

I too am curious about using clearer boards. My hives are very close to my house so it's not a hassle to go over there and whack it in between the middle and top super, then return the next day. I do get a bit of beatle around here in summer though. I suppose even if I used the clearer boars for 24hrs then the blower for the rest of it it may be easy enough.

This side of things is where I feel my knowledge/experience really is lacking. How to efficiently clear the bees out of the super I want to take, so I don't spend half an hour clearing each frame individually. Less time spent doing this will let me spend more time watching the brood. I admittedly neglect that way too much.

Offline lind

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Re: clearing boards and hive mats
« Reply #11 on: April 13, 2020, 01:10:53 am »
Blowers don't hurt bees, it causes less damage than brushing them off. They don't even get cranky when you do it, have been doing it for years, if it upset the bees they would let you know about it!

Yes, much easier - it is a matter of the right blower!