Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS => Topic started by: Lesgold on February 10, 2023, 07:59:19 pm
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Hi Folks,
Just thought I?d open a new thread called Today I Made. As the title says, it is a chance to show and tell something that was made recently relating to beekeeping. It could be anything that aids us in a small way and may be of some interest to others. Explanations and photos would be appreciated. The ideas don?t have to be original or well built. They just have to perform a task. Some of the roughest, poorly made jigs that I have constructed in the past display very poor craftsmanship as they were built quickly from second hand materials. They do however, work extremely well and save me a considerable amount of time. Ideas generate discussion and comment and this then promotes new ideas and thinking. So come on, show is what you are up to in the shed??
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Thought I?d kick off the thread with something that I made about an hour ago. Over the past few days, I?ve been cleaning up some of my beeswax that has been sitting in the corner of the shed. I started scraping some of the propolis and dirt off wax blocks before placing them into the melter for a final cleanup. Normally I use a hive tool, paint scraper, knife or a spoon for this task but I didn?t have one of those items handy so I grabbed a piece of hive strapping that was sitting on the bench and folded in half. I was actually surprised as to the effectiveness of this new found method.
Apart from being uncomfortable to hold, it worked very well. This morning, I decided to build a tool for the job using a bit of broom handle and an off-cut of stainless steel sheeting.
It only took about half an hour to make and it worked extremely well. It will also now be used to shave beeswax for wraps or lip balm. It?s funny how an idea can develop from nothing.
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It's good you found a better way to scrap you wax Les.
Excessive propolis is a deal in my area. I stumbled upon a way to clean propolis off the 'frame rest' edges of boxes 'pronto' a few years ago.
By using the stainless 'scraper' blade on a multi function, electric oscillating tool, the frame rest can be cleaned promptly. The best time I found to do so is when its cold and the propolis is brittle.
Phillip
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Good idea Phillip. Propolis is a pain when it is warm. The vibrations would help it to release quickly when it is cold.
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Hi Folks,
Just started extracting some honey this morning so it won?t be long until I?ll need to start cleaning up cappings and melting a bit of wax. I cast my wax into large ice cream containers that a local coffee shop gives me. They are ideal for the purpose and get thrown away after a few uses.
As you can see, this one has already been used once. I like to use new, clean ones for the final pour which gives me a good block of wax. I have always made my own custom strainers for this purpose. To build it, a frame is constructed from offcuts of timber to sit on the container.
A single screw on each corner is used to assemble the frame. For the strainer, stainless or aluminium fly screen wire is normally used. This particular strainer is made from an extremely fine stainless mesh that I?ve had sitting in the shed for years. It?s very good for filtering out most particles present within the wax. A square of mesh is cut with bend lines marked.
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The mesh is then bent as shown.
The mesh is then stapled in place and some tape is used to cover sharp edges.
As the strainer is custom made to suit the container, it doesn?t move at all and you have both hands free to control the molten wax.
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It's so awesome that you can just make whatever you want. I just don't have the knack for stuff like this.
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> I just don't have the knack for stuff like this.
You have to develop the knack. No one is born knowing how to do things...
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> I just don't have the knack for stuff like this.
You have to develop the knack. No one is born knowing how to do things...
I hear you, and I'm sure if I tried more, I'd be better at it, but I'm not naturally good at stuff like this, and my sister, for example, is. She's always been able to build things, even when she was very little, with Lincoln Logs and Legos and stuff, and I just never had the eye or the mechanical skills for it. I just don't think like that. I'm very good at thinking abstractly and logically, but not practically or spatially.
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I used to think I could teach anyone anything, but I have had to adjust that to I can teach almost anyone almost anything. I can see your intelligence in what you write, so I'm quite certain there is nothing you couldn't learn. It may or may not be more or less instinctual but most things are not instinctual. They take trial and error and practice. Being able to visualize something and make it, is a skill worth the effort to gain. There are too many things that are simply unavailable at any price that you will want in life. And most of those are relatively simple, not complex.
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I used to think I could teach anyone anything, but I have had to adjust that to I can teach almost anyone almost anything. I can see your intelligence in what you write, so I'm quite certain there is nothing you couldn't learn. It may or may not be more or less instinctual but most things are not instinctual. They take trial and error and practice. Being able to visualize something and make it, is a skill worth the effort to gain. There are too many things that are simply unavailable at any price that you will want in life. And most of those are relatively simple, not complex.
Thank you very much, Michael; that's quite a compliment. And you are right, the skills to be able to make something, especially something simple, are extremely valuable and are being lost in a lot of aspects of society today. I always think about the 2015 movie Passengers, where Christ Pratt's character has chosen to move to a distant earth colony because he knows how to build and repair things, but on earth everything has become so disposable that his skills are no longer valuable to anyone.
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I have noticed that for the past 200 years most beekeepers are tinkerers. They imagine things and build things. Some of them even turn out to be useful. And sometimes they become indispensable. I build so many things, it's hard to imagine beekeeping if I didn't.
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Hi Reagan,
I understand what you are saying. For my entire working life as a teacher of woodwork and metalwork, I often taught students who had no or little experience in working with their hands using tools and equipment. My job was to encourage them to try as quite often there was a fear of touching or using equipment or there was a confidence issue. Skills develop through repetition but the most difficult part is taking that first step. I?ll use the assembly of a bee hive frame as an example. The first one that you build takes a considerable amount of time. Mistakes will be made and from that we learn. The second one takes only two thirds of the time to assemble and looks much better than the first. By the time 20 frames are made, the skill level has improved considerably but more importantly there has been a growth in confidence. My students often said to me ?I can?t make that.? My reply was always the same. Looking at a project as a whole is often daunting. Breaking it down into very small steps removes the overwhelming feeling that stops you from taking the plunge. As Michael said, beekeepers are tinkerers. We are and always will be. I have noticed that you love cooking, making candles, beeswax wraps etc. This makes you a tinkerer as well. A saw, hammer and cordless drill are just a couple of extra accessories to add to the sewing box.
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Hi Reagan,
I understand what you are saying. For my entire working life as a teacher of woodwork and metalwork, I often taught students who had no or little experience in working with their hands using tools and equipment. My job was to encourage them to try as quite often there was a fear of touching or using equipment or there was a confidence issue. Skills develop through repetition but the most difficult part is taking that first step. I?ll use the assembly of a bee hive frame as an example. The first one that you build takes a considerable amount of time. Mistakes will be made and from that we learn. The second one takes only two thirds of the time to assemble and looks much better than the first. By the time 20 frames are made, the skill level has improved considerably but more importantly there has been a growth in confidence. My students often said to me ?I can?t make that.? My reply was always the same. Looking at a project as a whole is often daunting. Breaking it down into very small steps removes the overwhelming feeling that stops you from taking the plunge. As Michael said, beekeepers are tinkerers. We are and always will be. I have noticed that you love cooking, making candles, beeswax wraps etc. This makes you a tinkerer as well. A saw, hammer and cordless drill are just a couple of extra accessories to add to the sewing box.
Thanks, Les. I guess that's true; I never really thought about it like that. I can definitely say, now that I am thinking about it, that the thing that is difficult for me with carpentry is a lack of knowledge regarding materials and tools, and what they do or how to use them effectively and safely (in the case of power tools). Before we moved to the mountains, we never had scrap lumber or other building materials around the house to just mess around with, since we used to live in suburbia. Now that we are country folks, we are slowly accumulating several piles of usable junk :wink: :cheesy: and my sister has been able to use that to her advantage. I lean on her a lot whenever I need something built or fixed.
It's kind of funny how, as a natural book-learner, I could more easily follow a set of detailed instructions (which is really probably where I should start, where carpentry goes, with plans), but I have difficulty envisioning something I haven't previously encountered. My sister can look at something, say her goats have destroyed something and it needs to be rebuilt better or stronger, and she can invent a new solution. Now I could read a book on the subject, and I could understand and remember all the solutions I read about, and, with the right tools, apply them in the appropriate situation, but it would be very difficult for me to stand there and come up with something the world, or at least I, had never seen before to solve the problem. I can't generate something new, I can only search the mental filing cabinet for relevant information. And that's not to say I couldn't learn to think more outside the box with practice, but it's a muscle I have flexed very little in my life so far, so it seems daunting. But like my piano teacher used to say, "slow it down and break it down", and it's much easier to learn.
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Well I?m finally down to the last mornings extracting for the season. The final cleanup will start tomorrow and everything can be stored away for the winter. One of my favourite honey strainers developed some cracks so last night I thought I?d better get in and build a replacement. I use a couple of commercially made strainers but they never really suited my situation so I started making my own about 8 or 9 years ago. This is how I make them.
I start with a couple of food grade buckets. I used to get heaps of them from a local supermarket.
Once cleaned, they work well for storing honey or making strainers. This one was previously used for a cappings strainer and it had large holes drilled into the base. It was now time to repurpose it. Using a utility knife, most of the base was cut out with a lip of about 15mm left to support the mesh.
The height of the strainer is then marked around the side of the bucket.
The knife is then used to cut the strainer to size. For this new strainer, the height was increased slightly over the old design to about 90mm.
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This process is repeated to make both strainer bodies. Two grades of mesh are then cut to suit each strainer body. The mesh is held in place by a bead of silicone and supported by weights until the silicone cures.
Three lugs are then constructed from sheet metal to support the bottom strainer over a pail. With this new strainer, small stainless brackets will also be constructed to fit inside the bottom strainer. This will increase the gap between the two and allow for better honey flow.
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Just finished making a new box for comb honey production in the spring.
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When bottling up honey, my wife sits the bottling tank on a small stand that I made. As the tank gets close to empty, she props up the back of the tank with a plastic mug or anything that is sitting around the kitchen.
I never really liked what she was doing as the tank was never stable and it moved around too much as she tried to remove the last of the honey. I thought a tilting table would offer the stability required and leave both hands free to allow her to concentrate on bottling. Here is what I came up with:
A piece of particle board was attached to the stand with two hinges. A couple of rotating stops were screwed to the top so that different sized tanks could sit in place without sliding forward as the table was tilted.
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At the back of the stand, a rotating tilt support was added.
It sits in the horizontal position for most of the time. As the tank empties, the tilt support is rotated to the first position to increase honey flow.
When the tank is almost empty, the second setting is used to get most of the honey out.
I may have to adjust the length of this support if the table angles are not quite right. A bit of testing will determine the best sizes to use.
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Decided it was time to upgrade and improve my old foundation embedder. The old one worked quite well but I decided to make a few improvements and build a new one. Scrounged around the shed and yard to come up with some material that could be used for the project.
The old battery charger would still be the power supply for the unit and some copper tubing would be utilised to make pressure contacts and a switch. A piece of pine would be used to make the body of the embedder.
The first step was to cut the timber to a length a little longer than a frame. Holes were then drilled in appropriate spots. The outer holes would just fit inside the frame and were drilled through the material with stopped holes being located in the centre.
All pins were made from 1/2 inch copper tube. The ends were squeezed in a vice, cut to length and then filed to shape.
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The outer pins were made longer as they needed to protrude through the embedder. The ends were also bent slightly.
Pins were hit into position and the bottoms were tested and adjusted in length to sit against a straight edge.
A switch was then constructed from another piece of tubing. It was squashed, bent and drilled as shown below.
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The switch was then screwed to the embedder and wires were attached to the appropriate locations.
The final stage was to connect the embedder to the battery charger and test how well it worked.
As expected, it did the job. It took just over an hour to make the project and there was no cost involved as all the materials were on hand. The switch mechanism worked exceptionally well.
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https://bushfarms.com/beesmisc.htm#wiringtools
https://bushfarms.com/images/WireEmbedder.JPG
I bought mine but then added more "feet" to it.
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Michael,
Just one simple comment from you got me thinking. You are right. The more contact points you have on the wire, the better the embedding will be. I have often had areas where the embedder did not get the wire buried into the wax and this was always a point of frustration. Sometimes the foundation is not perfectly flat or occasionally one or more of the holes in the frames are inaccurately drilled. I will add another three bits of copper to improve the efficiency of the unit. Thank you.
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I find to get the best results from embedding wire into foundation, the "frame board" or "foundation board" has to be of the correct height. If the support board for the foundation is too low then the wires are getting pushed down or bowed down in the middle and the ends of the wire will not be embedded into the wax foundation. With the wired frame inserted into the frame board the wires should be laying on the support board.
Also like to run a small fan blowing on the frame while using the embedder. The transformer I use take a "5" count to heat up enough, let off of the switch and hold in place until the wax solidifies, This is where the small fan comes into play, it cools the wax just a tad faster.
Also on the outer pins, I took a small file and cut a small shallow groove into the end pins, this will let the wire fall into the groove and stay in place a little better.
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Hi Folks
I have just started using some old softwood pallets for making stands for honey displays at the markets. Decided that a pallet bar would be a handy tool for pulling pallets apart efficiently. When looking at them online it appeared as though they would be a simple tool to make. After looking through my scrap metal rack, some material was chosen and a simple bar was welded together. It works a treat and saves a lot of time.
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Get yourself a right angle grinder and take the heads off. You can't pull the nails out anyway so most of the slats get broken pulling the heads through.
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Been there and done that. I?ve used angle grinders with fine blades, pinch bars, hammers and screw drivers, mallets, circular saws and even chain saws. Every pallet is different. Some have spiral nails, some don?t. A few have gummy timber that grips the nails and others pull apart with no issues. This is by far the quickest method that I have used. Saving time is my focus. Splits in timber, and nail holes where the nails have pulled through are cut out anyway. I?m only using the timber in short lengths. Any left over timber is used to run my steamer when I clean up frames so there is no loss. Soft wood pallets generally end up in land fill and area wasted resource. I?m happy to get some use out of a few of them.
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Soft wood pallets generally end up in land fill and area wasted resource. I?m happy to get some use out of a few of them.
People around here have realized pallets are a resource, and now you can't always get them for free from places anymore, although they are still very cheap.
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That was bound to happen and I?m sure that will occur everywhere. It?s actually good to see. I went for a drive around my local industrial area yesterday and saw about 50 pallets sitting out in front of buildings for people to take away.
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Les I posted this some time ago. The video was made by a beekeeper from Tennessee. You might enjoy the view.
https://youtu.be/sNffQBI33Cs
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That?s it Phillip. They work well. The pallets that we get in Australia tend to be made from inferior pine. I?ve made frames and beekeeping gear from that material in the past but it tends to move too much as the material is not kiln dried. I have to consider that when making displays and presentation boxes. Looks like the quality of wood used in the video is much better. Thanks for posting it.
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The switch was then screwed to the embedder and wires were attached to the appropriate locations.
The final stage was to connect the embedder to the battery charger and test how well it worked.
As expected, it did the job. It took just over an hour to make the project and there was no cost involved as all the materials were on hand. The switch mechanism worked exceptionally well.
You never cease to amaze me with your good ideas!
Phillip
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Soft wood pallets generally end up in land fill and area wasted resource.
Many are recycled here. Some are even plastic.
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Wire works much better crimped. It spreads the stresses in every direction and keeps the wire from just cutting through the wax. The crimpers they sell hurt my hand. So I went to the local welder with the gears from one of those plastic ones and a pair of Electrician pliers and had him build this:
(https://bushfarms.com/images/Crimpers2.jpg)
https://bushfarms.com/beesmisc.htm#wiringtools
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That?s much better than the commercial crimpers that I have seen Michael. That?s a good, simple design.
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Back in the workshop preparing for markets in just over a week. I bought some better quality jars with a hexagonal pattern on them and turned up some wooden lids which have the standard lid glued into a recess underneath. I?ve taken a few to the last two markets and they have all sold. I?ve been explaining to people that these jars can be placed on the table as a feature piece rather than looking at an ugly pail of honey. They can obviously be refilled as needed. As the next markets will be on Father?s Day, they may end up being a popular item on the day. I initially started making a few just to dress up the display as a table full of honey is not overly interesting on its own.
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Les,
How much do you charge for them?
Jim Altmiller
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Les,
How much do you charge for them?o
Jim Altmiller
I really like them Les. Is it a complicated process making the wood lid covers for the metal tops? Do you have videos on this project?
PS this is the neatest and probably best sales tactic that I have seen! IMHO. Thanks for sharing this great idea!
Phillip
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Back in the workshop preparing for markets in just over a week. I bought some better quality jars with a hexagonal pattern on them and turned up some wooden lids which have the standard lid glued into a recess underneath. I?ve taken a few to the last two markets and they have all sold. I?ve been explaining to people that these jars can be placed on the table as a feature piece rather than looking at an ugly pail of honey. They can obviously be refilled as needed. As the next markets will be on Father?s Day, they may end up being a popular item on the day. I initially started making a few just to dress up the display as a table full of honey is not overly interesting on its own.
Those are gorgeous! I would be all over buying that at a farmer's market!
Les,
How much do you charge for them?
Jim Altmiller
I would also like to know.
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Thanks guys. I?m pretty happy with how they look. I was selling them for $22 each. The jars contain 1kg of honey. I sell 1kg of honey in a pail for $13. I know the price was low but initially I just wanted them to dress up the display and see if here was any interest in the idea. I will now be asking $25 as it does take time to make them. All Timbers are Australian natives which adds a nice touch. I will be making a few lids over the next couple of days to build up a bit of stock heading towards Christmas so when I do, I?ll photograph the steps involved. Some of the lids were turned from off cuts that we use to start the fire of an evening. We get small pieces from a furniture manufacturers scrap bin. Others are turned from old fence posts, tree branches etc. The timber just needs to be dry and stable after it has been machined.
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This is how the lids are made. A circle slightly larger than required is marked on a piece of timber. The material is usually 20-25mm thick. I use a bandsaw to quickly trim the blank down to size. As I have a wide bandsaw blade on the machine at the moment, it is quicker to just make straight cuts and get the wood approximately to size. The blank is then secured to a four jaw chuck so that the inside recess can be machined out. There are other methods that could be utilised but this is the quickest for me with the equipment that I have.
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Some of the outside of the blank is turned down to the required diameter of the lid. A set of callipers is used to gauge this size. The edge of the lid is then faced. I use a 10mm bowl gouge for most of the shaping of the lid. A pencil line is marked onto the face and indicates the diameter of the recess for the metal lid.
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The gouge is then used to quickly rough out most of the waste for the recess. A parting tool cleans up the shoulders of the recess and small cuts are then taken to ensure that the lid fits well into the space. A tight fit is not required as epoxy will be used to secure the two components together.
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A quick sand using abrasives takes place and the underside of the lid is now complete. The recess is not sanded at all. The lid is removed from the chuck, rotated and then held by the internal recess just made. The outside edge of the lid is then machined to size using a gouge. The top of the lid is then turned until the correct lid thickness is achieved. I do this by eye and don?t measure anything at this point. It is not a critical dimension.
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A curve is then placed on the lid and the whole thing is then sanded down to 400 grit. The lid is now ready for finishing. 2 Coates of Danish oil are rubbed into the lid using a cloth. The first coat is rubbed back with some 600 wet and dry a day or two after the first coat was applied. When the finish is dry, the metal lid is glued in place with some epoxy resin. It is a time consuming task but I feel it is worth having something a bit different on display at the markets. From start to finish took 30 minutes exactly. That included stopping to take photographs and taking the lid back to the house. In reality, I would be making about 3 lids per hour. I think that this would be a good task to undertake on those cold winter days when nothing much else is happening.
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I like it. It really dresses up those jars. Keep posting your projects lesgold. You are giving me some good ideas to steal. :wink:
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You are very talented.... Thanks for your post Les..
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I went back and looked at your pictures again. I am amazed how you take a piece of raw wood and transform it into a beautiful Jar Top..
Phillip
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I am always in awe of people who figure stuff out and make it. I can do big picture stuff, but when it comes to the actual building I usually fail. My grandfather, who died before I came along, was an inventor with a number of patents to his name. One of the saddest things for me is that his sketchbook was stolen by a "friend" of my grandmother. Lesgold, I am impressed and kind of exhausted seeing all your projects! Please keep them coming :grin:
Clarification: I don't mean that I am exhausted by your posts. Just exhausted vicariously by your energy. You not only start projects, but you finish them in good time which is something I never seem to do!
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Nice work. Are you using a metal lathe to turn wood?
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Thanks again guys. If we share our ideas, we can then develop and improve them to suit our own situation. Cao, I hope that you can use these ideas if they are of any use to you. That?s why I post when ever I can. Hopefully we can inspire each other and keep the passion going. There has been many tips, tricks and ideas that Ive seen on this site that has helped me so it?s only fair to share a few of my own. Kathy, your grandfather sounds like he was an ideas person (just like you) It would have been fantastic to meet and talk with someone who obviously had at rare gift. Acebird, the lids were turned on a wood lathe. The chuck in the photo was designed for holding blocks of wood in both the expanding and compressing modes. I purchased it over 30 years ago. It?s really good for saving time, especially in this type of situation. Phillip, thank you gain for your encouragement. It keeps me on my toes and helps the old grey matter to tick over. I already have a few more projects planned that I will be sharing with you when I get the time to get started. Two of them are beekeeping related and would require some input from you guys as they are both techniques that I have seen and not tried myself. The other project will be a camping based construction which will hopefully start sometime next week.
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Hi Folks,
After a successful market on Sunday, stock needed to be replaced. One item that I want to add to the market display is a small sample package of 3 different styles of honey. Michael Bush suggested 3 as a good option so I thought I?d give it a go. I purchased a small quantity of small hex jars and made a simple label for a range of honeys. Constructing the boxes from old pallet material was easy but the package just needs something to give it a lift. Any ideas guys? I was hoping something with a rustic look just to finish things off. Perhaps some twine, bush leaves etc. I?m not sure at this stage. Building stuff is my strength but artistic presentation is very much out of my comfort zone. I?ll have a play tomorrow but I know it will look awful. Your input would be great.
Cheers
Les
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The one I had and saw was just like that except deep enough that a thin bar across the front was added to keep them from falling out. Then, of course, one without the bar so they could take them out and look at the light through them...
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Looks really good as is.
maybe drill 2 holes in each end 1/2" from the top and lace a piece of jute twine to secure them and still leave the labels readable (located about where the lines on the label are) ?
Why go to the trouble to mitre the corners instead of a butt joint ? Granted, they do look better; but a butt joint is faster, easier, and more forgiving with the different wood thicknesses of salvaged wood... and looks more "rustic".
maybe a little straw or something tucked around bottles?
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Hi Folks,
After a successful market on Sunday, stock needed to be replaced. One item that I want to add to the market display is a small sample package of 3 different styles of honey. Michael Bush suggested 3 as a good option so I thought I?d give it a go. I purchased a small quantity of small hex jars and made a simple label for a range of honeys. Constructing the boxes from old pallet material was easy but the package just needs something to give it a lift. Any ideas guys? I was hoping something with a rustic look just to finish things off. Perhaps some twine, bush leaves etc. I?m not sure at this stage. Building stuff is my strength but artistic presentation is very much out of my comfort zone. I?ll have a play tomorrow but I know it will look awful. Your input would be great.
Cheers
Les
Both my mom (who is a very presentation oriented consumer) and my sister (who is an artist) think that the presentation of the box would look better and less plain if there was more of the paper straw in the box (animal didn't even see it at all :wink: ), even making the box a little larger to facilitate that. That would kind of give it more of that old-timey, "unpacking a crate full of stuff" feel. My sister also said that perhaps using a more natural-looking product like packing straw would make it look a little more rustic. Something like this stuff.
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Thanks guys. That?s exactly the feedback I?m after. Michael, your idea will get me thinking. What you said reminded me of a spice rack type of setup. I?ll see what I can do. Animal, the twine was something that I had in the back of my mind and I did experiment with it last night but couldn?t get it looking right. I?ll pop a photo of it below. It covered up too much of the label and didn?t look right. I do make mini crates with two honey jars in them and they do look quite rustic. I tried making a box with butt joints but I wasn?t happy with the appearance. It just looked too chunky. The mitres are quick and easy to make and assemble as long as the timber is of uniform thickness. You are right on the money there. Reagan, I think you are right. The box could be a little larger so that the straw is visible. The packing straw that you posted looks great. The shredded paper that I?m using doesn?t look as good. I like the colour of the straw. I?m not sure where I could purchase that here in Aus. If I get some time in the next few days, I?ll see what I can do.
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Had a look online and found this. It?s called wood wool. I think it will look better than the coloured shredded paper that I have been using. Thanks again Reagan.
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how about regular old planer shavings for "straw" ?
I guess there's a fine aesthetic line between rustic and chunky :smile: I'm not much of a decorator.
Actually, the pic of the tied box with leaves looks good to me. Obscuring the label on the center jar might be a good trick if it causes them to push it aside to read ...
3 steps ... get them to look, get them to touch, get them to pay. ... (adapted from another saying that's a little more randy) :wink:
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>3 steps ... get them to look, get them to touch, get them to pay. ...
That's kind of the point of the three colors of honey. It gets them to look. Then they ask some questions, pick it up to look at it, and they learn something and buy something. Most people think honey is a consistent product (something Sioux Bee tried to teach them for years) and they are surprised to find out it is not.
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Most people think honey is a consistent product (something Sioux Bee tried to teach them for years) and they are surprised to find out it is not.
Yes, as was I once upon a time.. Sioux Bee 'Clover' Honey...
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You guys are making interesting points in relation to honey. I?ve found this to be all true at the local markets. If you have a stall, the first thing you want is for people to stop and look. If they do stop, it gives you the opportunity to speak to them. If they start asking questions, it shows they are interested. From that point on, it becomes quite a simple task to sell your produce. Having an observation hive is a huge advantage. People of all ages stop, look and ask questions. Their focus then changes to what you are selling. Having a range of products presented in a variety ways gives the customer choice. I have found that the gift packs are eye catching and draw people in to look and touch. They were introduced to make the display look interesting rather than as an a saleable item. They are now becoming quite popular and sales have increased as a result. Honey tasting has also added to the success of the stall. A couple of varieties of honey allows people to taste and appreciate that they are different. At the markets last weekend, I had two varieties of honey available for customers to try. I was surprised at the number of people who wanted to try both. In many instances, they couldn?t decide which one they liked more so they ended up buying a jar of each. One of my next projects is to make a sign for the stall. It will just say ?Local Honey?. Sales increase dramatically when you explain to people where the honey is produced. In my case it is only 5km from where it is being sold. When my wife and I were away on holidays, we stopped at a large market that was packed with people. I saw a local beekeeper selling honey at his stall. His location wasn?t the best but he still had crowds of people walking past. I decided to get a coffee, sit nearby and watch how people reacted to his stall. In the 5 minutes I was watching, not a single person stopped to even look at what he had for sale. His stall was just a couple of tables with three large stacked piles of honey. Unless you were specifically looking for some honey to purchase, there was no reason to stop.
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My wife looked at my packaging attempt and basically said it didn?t look right. Even though she has one hand bandaged at the moment, she was able to make a dramatic improvement to what I?d done just by adding some gum nuts to the display and off setting the cross over point so that all labels were visible. I initially made four of these boxes and will add them to my display at the next markets. After that I will make a few changes as suggested by you good people. Thanks for your comments and advice.
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I like the string and the garnish. Nice. Other things I like to have to get people to stop are some propolis, some beeswax, some comb honey and some pollen. Even if I don't sell much of some of those, they are conversation pieces.
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Thanks Michael. I think my wife has sorted that presentation quite well. I know very little about uses of pollen and propolis. I think they would be good topics to discuss and I would been really keen to learn about their uses.
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I decided to take your advice Reagan and try a slightly larger display box so that the wood wool packing would be visible. My daughter gave me three bags of the stuff so it will be put to good use. It will be interesting to see the feedback at this weekends markets. Local people tend to be a bit more conservative in relation to this type of purchase but visitors tend to spend more on non essential items. We have a holiday weekend coming up in three weeks. Quite a few visitors from the bigger cities like Sydney and Canberra visit the local area during that time and tend to spend more on gifts and local produce.
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I decided to take your advice Reagan and try a slightly larger display box so that the wood wool packing would be visible. My daughter gave me three bags of the stuff so it will be put to good use. It will be interesting to see the feedback at this weekends markets. Local people tend to be a bit more conservative in relation to this type of purchase but visitors tend to spend more on non essential items. We have a holiday weekend coming up in three weeks. Quite a few visitors from the bigger cities like Sydney and Canberra visit the local area during that time and tend to spend more on gifts and local produce.
I think that looks phenomenal. I can't imagine anyone not stopping a taking a look at something like that, especially a tourist. :happy:
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Times 2 !!!
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Thanks again for the advice Reagan. I will see how things go over the next couple of markets. While at the markets, two questions keep on popping up about the honey. ?Is it local honey?? And the other question that people ask is in relation to whether the honey is raw or processed. I decided that I should have a hanging sign just saying ?Local Raw Honey?. I pulled a wider board off an old pallet, ran it over the planer and then sanded it until it was smooth. A sealer was applied followed by a couple of coasts of polyurethane. The board was then taken to a sign writer to complete the job. He will attach the lettering in a couple of days after the finish hardens up. Will post a pic in a few days when I pick it up.
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Getting back to another project that was on the go, the market sign that I was making was picked up from the sign writer a short while ago. It will hang via some eye hooks above my honey display. I was scratching my head for a while as to the wording on the sign. Should it read ?Local Raw Honey? or Raw Local Honey?? I decided that the former was the best choice in my situation as the first thing that people ask is in relation to locality. Some people then want to know if the honey is processed in any way.
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Just a quick note, I split off the pollen discussion onto a different thread, since it will be easier to locate that way, and since it's not really on topic with this heading. Here's the new thread.
https://beemaster.com/forum/index.php?topic=56794.0
Carry on. :happy:
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Michael Bush got me thinking about top entrances on a hive. If I am going to make a top mounted pollen trap, the first step would be to get the bees trained. I could have just wedged the lid open and worked it that way but then I started thinking about options. Eventually I decided to make a lid that could be used open or closed. The Snelgrove board gave me a simple solution. I used some old pallet material and made up a top. If it doesn?t work all that well, I still have a lid that can be used in the closed position. I will place it on a hive in a day or so to see what happens.
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I think you'll get a lot of burr comb between the cover and the top bars. Mine are 3/8" at the front where the entrance is and nothing at the back so most of the top bars are within bee space.
https://bushfarms.com/beestopentrance.htm
Somewhere I have pictures of my latest ones, which have the shims on both sides so you can flip it to close the entrance or use it as a bottom board or a cover.
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Good point Michael. I?ll have to see how it goes. I?ll keep the mat in place over the frames to keep burr comb under control but having all traffic moving through this area may generate problems. I?d hadn?t thought of that. Thanks for pointing it out. It will be placed on a strong hive tomorrow and will photograph how it goes over time. As issues arise, you may be able to advise me as to possible solutions to any problems. This will only be a temporary lid until a top pollen trap is fitted.
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The Sundance pollen trap appears to work well (from what I?ve read and seen on some YouTube clips) so it may form the basis for my homemade trap. The conical bee escapes are a good idea and seem to be critical to the correct movement of bees. The stainless mesh used in the commercial trap appears to be machine pressed and in my situation would be a reasonably challenging aspect of the project. I decided to have a go at constructing a couple of freehand cones using some metal flyscreen to see if it was feasible. After playing with some mesh for about 20 minutes, I determined that it would work and set about figuring out sizes and construction methods. The first step was to make a template for the mesh. I found an empty breakfast cereal box and cut one side out. A compass, ruler and pencil were put to use drawing up the template. It was good to be able to use technical drawing theory in a practical situation. The template included extra material for overlap of the conical sides, a foot to secure the cone to the pollen trap and some extra material towards the end of the cone so that sharpe edges of the mesh could be bent away from the cone exit. I thought this would be important to reduce some damage to bees as they exit the cone. The template was cut out and a couple of pieces of mesh were then used to see if the size was correct. I was able to shape the mesh reasonably well by hand and at a pinch, all cones could have been formed this way. I am thinking that a wooden cone of the correct size would help to form the mesh so I may work on producing one today.
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Somewhere I have a regular Sundance trap. I have several Sundance II traps. I have built a few traps over the years. Here are some observations:
You need some sort of drone escape. The ones on the Sundance II and Sundance work very well in that they also serve as a worker escape. Workers quickly learn to exit through them as it is much quicker and easier than exiting through the #5 screen wire. You can get by by just drilling one 3/8" hole as the escape, but you will lose pollen as the workers will try to use it but you'll get some as the traffic jam at that hole will force a lot of bees to use the trap. This will also be less efficient than the drone escapes as the traffic jam, again, will slow down the exiting workers.
You need the bees to enter through a #5 (aka 1/5" aka coffee cloth) hardware cloth. This is the same size used by coffee processors to sort coffee beans. Usually available mail order at least but then often only in a full roll. Some of the US bee supply vendors sell it in smaller lengths. Under the #5 and over the catch drawer you need a #7 hardware cloth. This is the right size for the pollen to fall through and keep bees out. #8 (1/8") is too small for it to freely fall down. #6, the bees will wiggle their way through. You need window screen on the drawer bottom to keep the pollen from molding.
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Just the sort of information I need. Thanks Michael. Hardware cloth is hard to come by in Australia but I have ordered some plastic pollen trap strips that I will try in the interim. They have entry holes that are supposed to be of the correct size to trap pollen. The cones will have an exit hole of 8-9mm. I?m hoping that this will allow bees (including drones) to escape quickly. Do you think this will work or should I adjust my design? I?m looking at 8 or 9 cones at this stage. I do have an aluminium mesh that bees can?t get through but pollen should fall through. It?s only about 200mm wide but that should be enough for this trap. I think that the whole thing should be screwed together so that any components that don?t work as planned can be pulled out and replaced.
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I started cutting up some metal flyscreen mesh using the template that I made yesterday. The cones formed reasonably well but the shape was a little messy. The main issue was the sharp edges on the mesh at the exit point. This would be hard on the bees so I decided to turn the edges over a ring of wire. The rings were formed around a piece of 10mm rod to keep the size and shape uniform. To improve the shape of the cone, I turned up a former using a 10mm bolt with the head removed. This was glued to a block of wood and then machined to the desired shape. Forming the cones then became a simple task.
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A quarter inch (6.35 millimeter) square opening will let a drone out. A 3/8" (9.525 millimeter) round hole will let a drone out but a worker won't find their way back in. Your 9mm should work fine. However many will easily fit will work fine. More is better than less since all the field workers will be exiting them along with all the drones. Overflow will be existing the #5 screen. BTW #5 is also useful for a queen excluder. I often use a push in cage of #5 to confine the queen to a space where I will get larvae to graft.
https://bushfarms.com/images/QueenConfinement5.jpg
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I started putting together the first stages of the trap. I decided to go with 7 escapes I order to make stapling a bit easier. The base of the trap will have bee space included. End grain of plywood will be set into a trench or a rebate where possible. I can?t really attempt anything else until my pollen trap strips arrive so that spacing can be calculated. The size of the pollen drawer will be determined after the bottom mesh layer is installed. Components are only screwed together at this stage.
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Very good looking quality work Les...
Phillip
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That's phenomenal, Les. I knew you could do it! :cool:
I actually built something this week. I needed a couple more moisture quilts for the upcoming winter. I make them by taking a shallow super, drilling vent holes in the side with a countersink bit, and then putting hardware cloth halfway up the super. We do have a staple gun, but it's really old and temperamental and I'm kind of scared to use it, :embarassed: so I just use thumbtacks to affix the mesh. This way I can fill the top of the box with wood chips to absorb moisture over the winter, and the bottom space gives me room for emergency winter feed. I'll cover the vent holes with mesh too once I get the boxes painted.
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Good stuff Reagan. To me, what you have done is a good example of what we have to do as beekeepers. We make stuff using the resources that we have around us to solve a problem or save a few dollars.
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I was able to get a bit more done this morning. The plywood for the top was cut and fitted as well as a ladder to enable bees to climb the vertical face to get to the plywood where the actual trap strips will be fitted. I will cut a hole in the plywood when the plastic strips arrive early next week. I want to be able to see what I?m working with. A sliding entry was also attached today. Two cup head bolts with wing nuts will secure the entry block to allow the bees to enter below the pollen trap and move straight into the hive or an upper entry can be created to enable the pollen trap to be engaged. This was a good feature in the Sundance trap and I thought I?d follow suit.
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Les it appears your very nicely made pollen trap is soon to be finished. I would like to see pictures of bees entering and exiting the trap as well when the time is right, pictures retrieving pollen from the pollen holding area of the trap. I am of the opinion you are doing a "great job" on this project! I would like to thank you once again for sharing this with us!!!
Phillip
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Thanks Phillip. It will be a few more days before my order is delivered and then I will be able to get back into construction mode. I spent a bit of time this afternoon modifying the lid that I made late last week. Michael?s comment about bee space in the lid not being correct ended up having a simple solution. A piece of plywood was added to the inside to reduced the gap to 9mm. I now have a lid with an enclosed air space which will improve thermal properties as well. I was thinking that shredded paper or layers of corrugated cardboard added to the space would help to keep the hive cooler in summer and warmer in winter.
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Put the top entry lid on a hive yesterday to see how the bees would take to it. The bottom entrance was blocked and I sat down and watched to reaction of the hive. As there were a lot of bees in the field, the consequence of this action was obvious. Bees quickly accumulated at the blocked entrance and numbers built quickly. There was one very small gap in the corner that wasn?t fully sealed. Quite a few bees tried to burrow their way in but as the gap was only about 1mm wide, they couldn?t make any progress. The interesting aspect of the experiment was how the bees reacted to the top entrance. Within a minute, guards established a base at the new opening and started fanning. The odd bee that had settled at the old entrance became airborne and flew towards the guard bees. A few started to enter and eventually the cluster at the base started to diminish slightly. Late in the afternoon there were still a couple of hundred determined bees at the old entrance with most adopting the new high entry point. It may take a few days for the transition to be completed. I will check again later this morning.
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Late in the afternoon there were still a couple of hundred determined bees at the old entrance with most adopting the new high entry point. It may take a few days for the transition to be completed.
It usually takes my girls 24 hours at least to learn my bottom trap, so it wouldn't surprise me if it takes them a few days to get the hang of it.
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As the pollen trap I?m making is a top mounted trap, it becomes a two part issue for the bees. I thought it would be easier if the change was staged over a few days. Hopefully the trap will be finished towards the end of the week.
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The strips for the traps arrived today. When I looked at them, the holes were just a bit smaller than I would have liked. It was suggested that 5mm holes is a standard size that is used for pollen traps in my state. When tested against drill bits, it appeared as though they were about 4.7mm. Decided to run a 5mm bit through each hole just to enlarge them slightly. I was surprised as to how quickly this task was completed. The strips were stapled below the plywood so that a natural dam would be formed to prevent any lateral movement of the pollen. If my thinking is a bit off, I can always change this later as non of the components will be glued in place until the trap operates as it should. The next step is to put a layer of mesh below the entry strips.
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First you need to get them working the top entrance if they are used to a bottom entrance. Then give that a few days to a week. Then use the trap.
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Thanks Michael. That?s the plan. With the top entrance in use for a day now, I?m already noticing the bees slowly making an adjustment. I?ll be interested to see how the hive is performing in a few more days.
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"Lesgold"
When tested against drill bits, it appeared as though they were about 4.7mm. Decided to run a 5mm bit through each hole just to enlarge them slightly.
Les the .3 mm difference could have very well have been a problem. I hope this works out for you. Did you by chance check the holes sizes on the plastic 'purchased trap' that you pictured in an earlier photo on the topic "Re: Pollen and Other Specialty Bee Products (Re: Today I Made)?" Reply 31
Phillip
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Hi Phillip,
I measured the opening size on the yellow trap using my 5mm drill as a guide. As you know, the openings are a trapezium and not round like the current trap that is being constructed. The parallel sides of the opening are about 5mm apart whereas the long and short sides are a little larger and a little shorter than this distance. At a guess I would say that 4.5mm and 5.5mm would be close to the measurements on these sides. The length of the diagonals is also slightly over 5mm. It will be interesting to see what happens. If the trap doesn?t remove most of the pollen coming in, that is still a good outcome. I may get a chance to get back to the project later in the afternoon.
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The middle shelf below the pollen trap entrance was constructed this morning. A couple of spacers were attached to stop the sagging of the entry shelf. The bee escape into the hive will be via slots on the side. A drawer opening was also constructed. The final task is to build a pollen drawer and then I will test the trap before it is painted.
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Just finished the pollen trap. When the glue dries, I will put it on a hive that has been given a top entry. After 3 days, the transition has taken effect and most of the bees are now ignoring the old entrance (except for a few that persist at a small gap at the bottom of the hive)
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Awesome, can't wait for the results!
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The trap was placed on the hive 15 minutes ago. As you can see from the photo, the bees immediately adopted the entrance which was the first part of the test getting a tick. You may not be able to see it but there is not a huge amount of pollen coming in due to the slow build up this season. That?s OK as the real purpose of the exercise is to see if the trap works. I sat down next to the hive and watched bee movement for about 5 minutes. I did notice some bees with pollen still attached coming out the entrance. This would be expected as they will need time to negotiate their way through the maze and would be a little confused at the moment. Tomorrow the lid will be lifted to see traffic movement through the trap. If the hole and mesh sizes are within limits, I would expect to see a small amount pollen in the screened drawer. Exit via the escape cones will also be examined and will also be an important aspect in relation to the success of the project.
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Thanks for the update Les. Looking good!
Phillip
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Amazing, Les! I can't wait to see what you collect. :happy:
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After 24 hours, the pollen trap was emptied. I didn?t expect to get very much at all due to the conditions at the moment. I was pleasantly surprised at the pollen collected. When conditions improve, I?m sure that a good quantity would accumulate in a short period of time. The pollen was very clean which supports Michael?s comments about the use of a top entry trap. It appears as though the majority of the pollen was collected towards the rear of the trap. When the lid was lifted, bees were uniformly spread over the top level. They were obviously looking for a path down towards the brood. There were no congestion point which means they were able to pass through with relative ease. A lot of bees were exiting via the cone escapes. This section of the trap worked very well. I did see about half a dozen drones on the top layer. It would be almost impossible for them to enter the hive.
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The entry was changed to allow all bees to enter directly into the hive. The transition to the new entry was immediate due to the small distance involved. If the bypass works as it should, the trap will be roved tomorrow for painting.
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Another well done, proven, and shared project on "Today I Made". You are a gifted person! Thanks for bringing us along on this Les!
Phillip
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Thanks Phillip. Hopefully it will give people some ideas so that they can improve this design or come up with something completely different.
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Yep .. you do really nice work .. methinks I shall steal your design for next year :grin: if I still have bees
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I find homemade projects like this interesting. Forgive my ignorance but I plead a legitimate excuse as I don't even have any bees yet but what is the reason to trap the pollen in this way?
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A pollen trap is used to collect pollen for the beekeeper's use or for sale. Here is a thread where we were discussing this topic recently. It was actually split off from this thread.
https://beemaster.com/forum/index.php?topic=56794.0
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Les, did you pull more pollen from your pollen trap today?
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Hi Phillip. No I didn?t. I switched to trap to by pass mode yesterday to see how the bees transitioned to the lower entrance. The other reason was that high winds and a temperature of 35 C was forecast for today. I was at the markets all morning so I didn?t want to continue with the test during my absence. I may switch it back again tomorrow when conditions improve.
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What downsides are there to trapping pollen and moving it around? Any diseases of any sorts in there that could be spread?
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What downsides are there to trapping pollen and moving it around? Any diseases of any sorts in there that could be spread?
You should always be careful moving anything around between colonies, but most people I know who have a pollen trap aren't harvesting it to feed back to bees, they are harvesting the pollen for human consumption. I have pollen coming in all season long, so I've never fed pollen or pollen substitute to my bees, but if I wanted to, I would probably just store some pollen in the comb to give back to them.
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"The15thMember"
"most people I know who have a pollen trap aren't harvesting it to feed back to bees, they are harvesting the pollen for human consumption."
I agree. For more see: https://beemaster.com/forum/index.php?topic=56794.msg520708#msg520708
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When I first started beekeeping, I looked to see what other beekeepers were doing around the world. One idea that always impressed me was the gable roof that many people put on top of their hives. This is obviously not convenient for migratory beekeepers but as my bees rarely move location the idea of an extra lid on top of the hive made a lot of sense to me. A gable roof has many advantages when placed on a hive. It provides extra protection for the lid and box as water runs off the roof and keeps a lot of brood boxes and supers dry. This cuts down on maintenance (especially painting) and also removes the need for a metal cap on the lid. It provides an extra air space that helps to keep the hive warm in winter and cool in summer and keeps more of those harmful UV rays off the hive body. I make the roof so that it just sit on top of the hive and overlaps the existing lid. Nothing holds them down and they rarely blow off. At the moment we are getting gusts of wind just over 50 km per hour and the lids still remain in place. When we were away on holidays for three and a half months, I returned home to find that one had blown off. It was just a matter of picking it up and sitting it back on the hive. To make the gable roof, I use whatever second hand material I can. Flat galvanised iron, sheet metal off the sides of old refrigerators and even stainless sheeting have been used in the past. These days I?ve started using aluminium composite sheeting as a mate gave me quite a bit a couple of years ago. 4x1 timber is also used for the sides of the gable. I need to make a few new gable lids as a couple of the early ones were made of pine and over time they just rotted away. A weather resistant timber such as cypress pine is a good choice for this part of the project. The first step is to cut the sheeting to the required size. Allowance needs to be made for the timber sides and also overhang in all directions. With the aluminium composite I make a shallow cut with the portable circular saw in the centre of the sheet to allow the material to bend. If I am using thin sheet material it is bent by hand over the end of the work bench. Screw hole locations are marked and drilled. Timber sides are then cut from the 4x1 to the length of the hive lid. The compound mitre saw is set to 15 degrees an a stop is cramped in place. The gables can then be cut quickly with no further measuring required.
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It is now just a simple assembly exercise where screws are used to hold the metal cladding in place. Short roofing screws or pan head galvanised screws are a good choice. On this particular roof, I glued some polystyrene under the lid to provide extra insulation. As you can see from the photo, the insulation has seen better days. It came from an old gable roof that was about 10 years old that was retired from service. I?m sure the bees will forgive me for not making a nice, new, insulated lid. The polystyrene is normally cut from old fruit boxes or packaging. The only real issue that I have with these lids is that they attract a few spiders. The end of a hive tool normally talks them out of staying in this location.
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Well I?ve finally made the decision to go to natural size cells on foundationless frames. Will it help with varroa? Time will tell. Even if it doesn?t, it will eventually reduce my workload and save a lot of wax. As I make all of my own foundation, the time spent on producing it every year really does add up. I thought I?d start on a small scale and trial it and establish methods to efficiently transition hives. I like how Michael Bush uses a frame with a shaped top bar but this would mean changing every frame in every hive and then making new top bars. In my operation, old frames are cleaned and reused through a steaming process to remove wax and soften the comb. Using a starter strip was therefore the best option in my situation. I have used foundation strips, icy pole sticks,melted wax and timber strips glued or nailed into place in the past. All methods worked quite well but I wanted to streamline a process to save as much time as possible. In one of my hives I have been testing a frame with a different type of top bar. It basically has an inbuilt cramp that grabs a starter strip of foundation for the bees to draw out. It was really quick to clip the starter strip into place but it?s downfall was the time to make the top bar. For this reason, the idea will be scrapped. Late yesterday afternoon, a box of frames was cleaned up and wires re tensioned. A piece of 90x19 pine was cut to a length that would just sit between the end bars of a frame and then strips were cut on the saw bench. Each strip was a loose fit in the groove of the top bar. Later this morning the starter strips will be fitted. I have a process in mind that should save a considerable amount of time. Each step will be photographed. (Just hope that it works out)
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I put starter strips on a box of old, cleaned frames. Nailing or gluing the strips in place didn?t appeal to me as it becomes a difficult task to remove or replace the strips if needed. I decided to use some wax to hold the strips in place. The frypan had water added and then some wax chunks placed on top. When the wax melted, the strips were quickly lowered into the wax, half at a time. As very little heat was generated, the strips could be reversed and held without any burning. While still hot, they were slipped into the groove in the top bar. This was enough to temporarily hold them in place. A hot air gun was then used to melt the wax into the groove and secure the strips in place. From a time perspective, a box of strips were added and heated into place in about 5 minutes. The technique worked even better than I hoped. At a later date, if the strips need to be removed, the hot air gun gets the job done easily.
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Without these starter strips being securely glued in with a top quality glue. My concern would be on the hottest of days, the possibility of these 'wax secured' starter strips simply giving way form the weight of the honey.
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The comb will attach to the top boards keeping it in place. Once it is attached to the frame sides it will bee stable enough especially since he did wire these frames.
Jim Altmiller
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I understand what you are saying Phillip. I have made starter strips in the past from a very thin layer of wax with no wires and have not had any issues. In saying that, the comb was very soft initially (especially on hot days) and had to be handled carefully until it was attached to end and bottom bars. As Jim said, the bees will secure the comb to the top bar and the wire will provide the extra support needed. Initially these frames will go into the brood box of a hive.
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I didn?t read closely enough. Yes with wire support they should be fine.
Phillip
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I hate to bend over, so being able to use every hive as a shelf to set things on, is far too handy to give up. Also my hives are all touching. I have a number of gable roofs sent to me by the FlowHive people. I never use them. I do use the supers.
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Just finished gluing some lids up for next weeks markets. Many of these lids had natural defects and cracking which needed to be glued up with superglue before being sanded. This slowed the process down but I just moved on and worked on other tasks while the glue set. A couple of lids were made from red mallee root. It is extremely hard and tools lose their edge quickly. The red lids are the result of the extra work involved. Prices of these jars will increase slightly to compensate for the extra work involved.
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Not just honey containers, but the lids are pure art!
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Here are my moisture quilts all painted, holes covered with mesh, and ready to go. I'm probably going to go through all the hives one more time before winter, and that will be the season.
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They came up a treat Reagan. Well done. Painting is the one job that I don?t particularly enjoy. Looks like you have a steady hand and patience. Wish I had those traits.
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Thanks, Les. As good as those wooden lids look, I think you have probably have plenty of patience and a steady hand as well. I am one of those people who enjoys a menial task, like painting or building frames or cleaning green beans or something like that.
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Yes, building frames is another one that sends me around the twist. In many ways frame building is a bit like going to the dentist. The thought of it is actually worse than the event itself. While on that topic, yesterday I bought the components to make a new wiring jig. The old one was a quick and nasty build that I made when I first started out. It never worked overly well and really slowed the process down. I don?t know why I stuck with it for all those years. I was in the hardware store yesterday and was able to pick up the bits to build a better one. The funny part about it is that I could have bought a cheap one for the money I spent on components. I considered buying one but the jigs that I looked at online were either plastic or didn?t have the adjustments I needed for the wire spool. With some cool weather coming, it will be a chance to get back into the workshop and put one together. I?ll post the stages of the construction as it comes together. And one last thing Reagan, prepping beans and shelling peas are also on my list of thumbs down👎👎👎👎 jobs.
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I?ve included a photo of my old wiring jig that was made when I first started in beekeeping. It worked but gee it was slow. I also used it for embedding foundation. Without wheels to help pulling wire through, and having a raised centre platform, it was always a frustrating task wiring up the frames. I really can?t explain why it wasn?t replaced years ago. I purchased some 17mm form ply and some cheap poly caster wheels a few days ago for the project. I would have liked to use a horizontal toggle cramp for the jig but they weren?t available so I had to improvise. A sprung loaded door stop was selected as a good alternative as it had the movement, locking and quick release needed for the project. Components were placed on the ply sheet so that I could establish sizes, clearances etc. It also allowed me to visualise what I was building and then break down each task into a series of small steps. I should be able to get started in a day or so.
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Most components will be screwed or bolted to the plywood base. This will allow for parts to be moved or changed over time. The base was cut to size followed by simple frame for the wire spool. The back corners of the spool frame were rounded to make wire tensioning with the left hand an easy task. Frame stops were constructed and positioned so that the first eyelet on the frame would line up with the centre line of the wire spool. A screw eye hook was also positioned on the top stop to help guide the wire. It would also act as a tie off point for wire when the jig is not being used. The door stop cramp was then fitted. When the stops and the cramp were fitted, a bit of space was left to allow for slight variations in frame sizes that occurs between different manufacturers. A cramp lever was then constructed. 19mm galvanised RHS was used. The hinge was constructed from pine. The pivot bolt is supported on top and below to add extra strength. The lever is positioned so that it sits about 7mm above the plywood base. A rub plate was added to support the lever. Later this morning a knob will be added to the lever and the wheels fitted.
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The poly wheels were convex in shape which was not going to hold wire in place. A bolt with the head cut off was used to secure the wheels in a Jacobs chuck to allow a slight convex curve to be machined in the surface of each wheel. I won?t know if the curve works or if the shape has to be changed to a V groove until the jig is tested. The polypropylene machines well, sending off beautiful ribbon shavings. No sanding of the wheels was needed. A wooden knob was machined for the tensioning handle and the remainder of the project was assembled. A coat of finish was applied to the handle and the jig will be tested later today when the oil finish on the handle dries. Overall cost of the project was just under $50. The cheap jigs on the market were a little less than that. Better quality jigs were about $160 so there was a definite saving in constructing the project at home. I will give a report on its use after a few frames have been wired.
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The wiring jig was given a run a couple of days ago and worked as expected. The poly wheels allowed wire to be drawn through frames with ease and the concave curves held the wire in place as well as allowing easy release at the appropriate time. The door stop worked very well. It has a lot of travel and doesn?t need adjusting like a toggle clamp would. The only downside is the door stop release takes more effort than a toggle clamp to get the shaft to release. Wiring time has been reduced and made much easierwhich was two of the main aims of the project.
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It won?t be long and Xmas markets will be here so I decided to add another stand to display honey products. All rustic and made from pallet material, it should provide a bit more space as well as making some of the items a bit more visible.
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Started pushing the boundaries with a couple of honey jar wooden lids that I?ve turned lately. Yesterday I turned one from a piece of fence post that I collected over thirty years ago. It had some sentimental value as it came from the farm that I grew up on. I tried to leave as much of the weathered outside of the post visible and intact as I could. The inside of the lid was turned and then all cracks were filled with superglue. This provided enough strength for the outside surface to be machined. Before sanding, all cracks, hollows and rotten timber were again reinforced with glue.
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You certainly are a handy guy, Lesgold. I appreciate those who can make things like that themselves. Congratulations.
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Les I suppose the passerbyers would buy honey from you for the nice looking jar alone if necessary! You have taken marketing honey to a new level! As Terri, I am also congratulating you!! With your observation hive, your brilliant Granddaughter and Wife, these beautiful jars (thanks to your custom made tops, (lids), as well as other strategies you have incorporated in your honey marketing layout, I have little doubt that you and yours ARE the honey booth, THE honey people which are sought out at the market place! I personally want to thank you, for not only sharing your GREAT ideas here with our members (your fellow members), but for being a member here at Beemaster Yourself! I am proud of you and your work!! You Sir are a true asset to the HoneyBee community! I can not find the proper words to thank you enough for choosing Beemaster as your HoneyBee Forum home!!
Sincerely,
Phillip
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I agree! Other honey sellers better step up their game, or you are going to run them out of business! :cool:
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Thank you for the kind words. I really appreciate your comments and feedback. I enjoy being a member of Beemaster as you can ask all sorts of questions and you are able to get a range of answers from a number of perspectives. Getting feedback on ideas and sharing bits and pieces is what it?s all about. We need to constantly push ourselves to do better and try to learn as much as we can because when you think about it, beekeeping can be a tough gig. I am sure that all members of this community have little hints, secrets and ideas that they incorporate into their beekeeping. My hope is that people are prepared to share some of them to help us all with our passion.
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I picked up a few softwood pallets a couple of days ago and thought I had better break them down and store the timber under cover before the forecast rain arrives. After de- nailing the pallet I noticed that the bearers were actually kiln dried Baltic pine and the slats were generally quite straight. Decided to convert this pallet into a nuc as I just threw one out that was made from plywood and over time it had delaminated. The bearers were run through the saw to 3/4? thickness, planed and then three were edge glued with Titebond. This would make the ends of the nuc. I went through a similar process with the slats to make up the sides of the box. I will cut material to size tomorrow and start assembling the nuc.
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Alright! Another good project Les!! Thanks!!
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Les I have never tried it, but I think they sell a tongue and groove bit set at Lowes which would put the icing on the cake? Have you done the tongue and groove process on your boards in the past?
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Sometimes it?s a case of necessity for beekeeping bits and pieces. My nearest supplier is an hours drive and for some reason nucs are expensive to buy. I mostly make them up from whatever material is lying around. Pallets are normally not the best choice as a lot of the material is twisted and cupped. It won?t end up as a work of art but the bees don?t seem to mind.
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The bees most definitely will 'not' mind. The reason I ask is because I was thinking of purchasing the tongue and groove bits myself and giving it a go after planing the boards as you described. I was hoping you might have experience in the process. Tongue and grooving the boards might help the nucs stay together, or in place, for a longer period of time than just glue alone? Keep up the good work Les. I will be looking forward to your updates.
Phillip
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I have used tongue and groove bits and they work quite well but the best thing to do is to make sure that mating edges are completely flat before gluing them together. Using cramps to close up gaps puts internal stresses on the timber and joints will eventually fail. I have made a few bee boxes from tongue and groove floor boards. They seem to hold up well over time. Cutting grooves and adding a feather of plywood is also another option. This is a very strong joint as the grain on plywood feather alternates and provides very good structural support for the pieces being glued. A jointer and saw bench will ensure that you end up with a perfect result.
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Thanks Les, how much more trouble, after planing the boards as you have done, would it be to run the same flat board 'edges' down a jointer, (If a jointer is the right name for the tool which makes the edges straight and smooth), making a perfect flat and smooth edge before using the tongue and groove bit?
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I actually only planed the edges and put up with a bit of twist. When the slats were glued together, the edges glued well but the faces had a bit of up and down (if you know what I mean). If you wanted to prepare the timber correctly and fully, the first step would be to run the face of the board over the jointer (sometimes called a surface planer). When the wide face of the board is perfectly flat, that flat face is then placed against the fence of the jointer and one edge is then prepared. This edge will be flat and also at 90 degrees to the face. The board can then be ripped on the saw bench to the correct width. Finally, the board can be ripped to the correct thickness or run through a planer/ thicknesser. That will give you a board that can then be attacked with a router and T &G bits. You would need to follow a procedure similar to this to ensure that your material is true before trying to use joint work. If I had a pallet that had thicker slats, I could have done that and it would make life easier as all components would fit together well. The problem with using pallets for this type of work is that the majority of the material is of poor quality and the slats are normally green, unseasoned pine. If you live in a dry area where you can store the pallet for some time, it will dry to a moisture content that will allow it to be used. On this project, I saw that the main bearers were kiln dried so I cut the pine and glued it up for the critical parts (top, base and nuc ends). I decided to use the slats for the sides of the box as a bit of unevenness could be tolerated. When I first started keeping a few bees, I made some frames out of pallet material. That was a big mistake. Some of them warped and twisted in every conceivable direction. I won?t be doing that again.
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Mr Les ... you have guts. I'd never get up the nerve to run pallet wood through a planer .. unless the blades were already chewed up anyway
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Only clean, nail free material is used. Timber from the underside of the pallet where it contacts the ground, I?m a bit wary of.
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I just doubt my competence as a nail inspector :grin:
Many compliments on all your projects. They are impressive !
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Thanks animal. Glad you enjoy them. Hopefully a few more people will post some of their ideas to help us all.
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There were other things on the go today so very little happened in the workshop. Took cramps of the edge glued timber, cut sides and ends to size and then used the saw bench to cut rebates for frames. The nuc was then assembled with glue and narrow crown staples. Edge glued some more pallet material for a lid and base and left it at that. Should only take about 40 minutes or so to finish things off in the morning.
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A base and lid were added using the remainder of the Baltic pine material. Some old decking material was utilised to make handles and cleats. An entrance hole was drilled and a rotating reducer was added. After a bit of thought, the mesh on the reducer will be on the inside when in use. A simple twitch of wire will hold the lid in place during transport. A couple of licks of paint and the addition of a sheet metal cover should see the nuc ready for service.
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Yes Sir!!! 👍🏻
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The nuc was finished this morning with the addition of a piece of aluminium composite to keep the rain off. The closure mesh was changed to something a little stronger and was moved to the inside of the hole. The nuc will be put to work in about a week when the paint cures fully.
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That's nice. Will you keep it for your use or sell it?
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Hi Kathy,
I?ll keep that one for making a few splits etc.
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I decided to make a screened bottom board using some of a narrow roll of gutter guard that was in the shed. A join will required to give the dimensions needed to cover the base of the bottom board. Rather than use standard pine for the BB, Cypress Pine was selected due to its excellent weathering properties. My local hardware store had some 65x20mm palings in short length available so the project would be designed around those parameters. The bottom board should outlast me but the issue with cypress is its tendency to split when nailed. All joints will therefore be drilled, glued and screwed. I like the idea of a slide in board being a part of the design as there is some potential to utilise it for SHB control. I have a couple of ideas that I will look into once the bottom board is in use. The first photo is one of the sides of the BB. A trench was put in place for the slide in base board and ventilation slots were added so that the hive would receive plenty of air. This would allow the base board to be permanently kept in place rather than something that would be removed during the warmer months. I don?t want to store more stuff in the shed. The second photo shows the BB assembled. A landing board was attached to the front and a 15mm opening was created at the rear to allow debris to extracted as the base board is removed. The 12mm slots will be covered in a fine mesh so that beetles will not be able to enter the hive from this location. The BB will be painted before the mesh is added.
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looks nice. Cypress is a great touch. I'm jealous. Since covid, cypress has become hard to get and really expensive in my area.
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That?s an interesting comment animal. I wonder if your cypress has similar properties to the one that I?m using. This is a native timber of Australia that is harvested for building materials. It?s termite resistant and lasts quite well in the ground. The material that I purchased was about 80% of the cost of regular pine so it was quite cheap.
The BB was painted and then the mesh was added. I decided to use fly mesh on the side vents as I didn?t want beetles entering through these slots. Galvanised staples were used to attach all mesh. Aluminium composite was then cut as the sliding base board and a handle/ cover strip was attached. Coreflute would be an inexpensive option but I have a good stock of the composite so it was an obvious choice. There are a number of experiments that I will be conducting using this base board so initially, strength will be important. The bottom board should work well but I wasn?t happy with the design. There is too much work in constructing it and the design needs to be simplified if a number of them were to be made. A few ideas are already clicking over in the grey matter. The board will be placed on a hive in a week or so in an area that contains a lot of SHB. I want to see if the slide in board can be utilised to help keep beetle numbers down.
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Admirable work there, Lesgold. Congratulations.
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Cool. I learned something new today about wood. Your cypress is a totally different tree.
I was referring to Taxodium Distichum, also called bald cypress or swamp cypress. resistant to most bugs, light, strong and straight grained. Makes great boat hulls, porch posts, etc. and part of what makes a swamp look nice and spooky. :happy:
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That?s an unusual tree. I can see why it is in short supply. Might be hard to get the logging trucks into that location.
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lol. gotta know how to drive ... just put her in low gear and don't let up ... :cheesy:
They'll grow on land too, but the base isn't as fat on the land trees,nor do they put up the tall "knees". I don't know if anyone still cuts the ones in the water, but they used to float them out. Some would sink and were lost ... so that today, some people go out, find the "sinkers" , and take them to the mill. Often they do it with a homemade pontoon boat made of oil drums with a big winch strapped to it. A 100 year old (or even older) tree sunk in the muddy bottom will still be good. Some swampers scavenge logs left on land too. Here's a video of one of those guys. His Cajun accent brought back a few memories, but I was surprised to not hear any butchered French from him.
The wood has a certain mild smell (and taste) that is unmistakable, even on a 100 year old board if you shave it with a pocket knife. Because of this, a bowl made out of it helps to make excellent sushi rice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q79BB_FpSVI
and the supply is slowly getting better. It was always expensive but during covid the price was 5x what it was before. It's now averaging around 3x.
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Thanks animal. Love watching Swamp People. It?s always a bit of fun seeing them wrestle gaters. That second log looked quite old. It held up extremely well considering the time it was under water. Great beehive box material but I?ll bet they are slow growing.
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Cool. I learned something new today about wood. Your cypress is a totally different tree.
I was referring to Taxodium Distichum, also called bald cypress or swamp cypress. resistant to most bugs, light, strong and straight grained. Makes great boat hulls, porch posts, etc. and part of what makes a swamp look nice and spooky. :happy:
A bald cypress is what I had in mind as well. Many houses and barns were built out of them back in the day here in the South.
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Les,
Bald Cypress is very slow growing. I planted 3 cypress trees in the edge of my pond back in 2005/6 during a long drought so that their roots would bee underwater water and which they have been ever since. They are now almost 20 years old and they are only about at most 30 feet tall and their trunks at waste height are about 6 inches in diameter. One of them was damaged by my bull when it was young and now there are 4 trees instead of one and they are very small compared to the other two.
I always thought that being in a wet clay base would allow them to grow very quickly but they never have.
All of the old growth cypress trees on my property, they grow in the swamps, were cut down long before I bought this property. Most of the stumps are still there. So I only have new growth cypress trees that are only about 30 years old. None of them are big enough to cut for lumber. Every time I bought a new property, I would look to see if any of the cypress were big enough for logging but they are not.
Jim Altmiller
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There's at least one logger/mill in Louisiana that's cutting and sawing up trees sustainably. I bought some 12x12 posts from him a few years back. He said they were planted by his great grandfather over a hundred years prior, and he replants too. He also cuts the base in slabs sometimes for tabletops and such. Well, that's the story I got from the salesman/broker for the wood. One place here used to stock it in some sizes, random length .. now it's all special order with a 3 weeks to 3 months wait. For comparison, the wait time for walnut is 3 days to a week.
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Yesterday was a cold, wet day so no bee hive inspections could be made. Late in the day I was able to get into the workshop to start on another project that I?d been planning. After making a pollen trap recently and doing a bit of research on cleaning pollen, the idea of making a cleaner seemed appealing. Looks like most people use some type of fan for the job. I use a computer fan in my honey warming cabinet to circulate air and thought that one could be used for this process. After watching a few video clips on this process, a design was nutted out. There was enough time to cut all components out and pre drill holes ready for assembly. The unit will sit on a bucket and the pollen will be fed via a funnel. This will allow the pollen to fall at a steady rate past the fan which should blow away all debris. (That?s the plan but I have no idea if it will work) I went up to the local hardware store and purchased a set of 4 plastic funnels for $4.50. They were all tested for flow rates with some pollen I had in the freezer. The two smallest funnels clogged when tested and the largest one dumped the pollen though far too quickly. Once the correct funnel was selected, a hole was drilled to hold it in place. Unfortunately the day finished before it could be assembled. It?s been airing here and we just received a message that our local markets are cancelled. Time to unpack the car and get back into the workshop to assemble the cleaner.
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Just finished putting the pollen cleaner together. No real problems with the build at all. My only concerns lie with the fan and the hole that drops into the bucket. I?ll test the cleaner tonight. If the fan is not strong enough to blow the waste material away, I may have to increase the voltage provided to the fan. If the fan is too strong, I may have to go a bit lower voltage with the plug pack or restrict air flow. I?m also not sure if the circular hole is going to do the job. Will pollen blow out or land around the hole perimeter? It will be interesting to see. I made a small box to contain the socket for the power plug. It seems to do its job. The circular plate clips nicely into the bucket and holds well. I?ll show results of the test when I get a chance to test things out.
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Another good, and worthwhile project Les! Thanks!!
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The pollen cleaner was tested last night. It worked reasonably well except for a bit of pollen that was blown past the hole. It appears as though the air volume supplied by the computer fan is just about right for the job. I ran the pollen through a couple of times and caught the debris in a large container. A small amount of pollen also made it to this area. I weighed the pollen that was blown out and it was less than 0.4% of the total amount run through. Debris included bee wings, pollen dust etc. Changes to the hole which the pollen drops through will be changed to hopefully reduce losses to almost zero pollen.
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Success!!! 👍🏻
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Spent a day wandering around the bush but still found enough time to change the shape of the hole in the pollen cleaner base. I decided to make a temporary baffle which would tend to deflect air and also keep debris up high in the tunnel. It worked very well with the changes. Ran 120 grams of pollen through the cleaner a couple of times to see how well it worked. The result is shown below. A permanent baffle will be added next.
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Just finished making the baffle and installing it. Decided to make it adjustable just in case. There may be subtle differences between pollens. Sorting fresh, frozen or dried pollens may impact on baffle position. To be honest, I have no idea. At least this way, the baffle position can be fine tuned. Time to start collecting some more pollen for the family to try and then on to the next project??
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Last week the newly made screened bottom board was placed on a hive in an area where beetles can be an issue. As the spring has been really dry, beetle numbers were quite low. A chux super wipe cloth was taped to the slide on board to see if it would trap any beetles that fell though the screen. Apart from a lot of debris, about a dozen beetles were left tangled in the cloth which was pretty good considering the low numbers of beetle in the hive. I wiped an attractant made of peanut butter and apple cider vinegar onto the cloth to encourage the little monsters. I have a variation on this trap that I may try so that the debris does not fall onto the cloth.
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When I picked up some jars from the beekeeping store, the guy who served me asked if I wanted some weathertex offcuts. (Weathertex is a hardboard external cladding manufactured board that is used in the building industry). The off cuts were about 920x130x9.5mm. This material is often used in the beekeeping industry for bottom boards, hive lids etc and is extremely durable in an external environment. I picked up a dozen strips as I thought it would come in handy one day. Yesterday when I was in the workshop looking at the material, I came up with the idea of making some migratory lids using only the material provided. Two layers of the Weathertex were glued together using Titebond with gaps left for rebate joints. When the glue dried, the nail holes were quickly filled and sanded before being cut into strips on the saw bench.
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Strips of Weathertex were also cut to the width of the lid ready to be attached when the sides were glued and pinned. The rest of the construction was straight forward. The lid had 4 pieces butt glued together and held in place with nails. When the glue dries, the lids will be cleaned up and painted. These lids are a bit heavier than the ones that you would buy but they will have good thermal properties and should last more than 20 years of continuous use.
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I bought a few plastic trays online and decided to make some screened bottom boards to suit. The design of the bottom board was simplified from the first one that was made in order to speed up construction. A simple frame was built from Cypress pine and hardboard off cuts with a rebate of 1mm inserted into the tops of the side and end rails. This would allow the mesh to be recessed level with the top of the rails. Bottom cleats would be added after assembly. The frames, risers and cleats will be painted prior to assembly.
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The bottom boards got a couple of coats of paint and I had enough time to assemble one yesterday afternoon. Flyscreen mesh was stapled to the underside of the BB and the the cleats were attached over the top of the mesh. Aluminium gutter guard was then cut and stapled to the top of the BB before the risers were screwed in place. I need go buy a few more supplies before completing the rear access door sometime today.
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Just finished putting catches on the removable door at the back of the BB and a wire handle on the slide in tray. They will be put into action next week when the paint hardens.
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Les those look real good. As long as the beetles can get through to the oil and the bees can't you should be in business.
Phillip
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Hi Phillip.
The mesh on top allows beetles to get through and the fine fly mesh underneath prevents them from entering the hive from underneath or to escape from the bottom board. The fine mesh will also keep other insects out and will also provide some ventilation. All of this is in theory at this stage.
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I think you've done well. The gutter screen was a 'great idea' considering you had problems readily finding #8 Hardware cloth.. Keep us updated please Sir. And thanks! :grin:
Phillip
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It's good you found a better way to scrap you wax Les.
Excessive propolis is a deal in my area. I stumbled upon a way to clean propolis off the 'frame rest' edges of boxes 'pronto' a few years ago.
By using the stainless 'scraper' blade on a multi function, electric oscillating tool, the frame rest can be cleaned promptly. The best time I found to do so is when its cold and the propolis is brittle.
Phillip
Good idea Phillip. Propolis is a pain when it is warm. The vibrations would help it to release quickly when it is cold.
In my area the best time to do so is now until the end of February with the bonus of cooler weather.
Phillip
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Knocked up 10 presentation boxes for tomorrows Xmas market. Some of the pallet material was a bit twisted but I still managed to get enough timber for 10 boxes. All joints are mitred with an MDF base slipped into a groove during assembly. Mitres were nailed from both directions negating any requirement for glue. Just under 2 hours all up so I was happy with that.
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Well done Les. Does your Christmas Market Event usually produce a big crowd of folks? What temperature range (f) can you basically expect in your region of Australia this festive time of year?
I hope you sell every item!
Phillip
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Hi Phillip,
If the day is reasonable, there should be a good crowd will who hopefully buy a lot for Xmas. School holidays start today and there is already a lot of traffic on the roads. Tourists will be here now until the end of January. We have had some hot days up to 100F in our area in the past week but tomorrow will be around 77F which should be pleasant. The observation hive will love that sort of temperature. Last Sunday we had a special market in a different location to where we normally sell. It was drizzling with rain all day. 80% of our honey sold on that day. It was our best outing to date. Perhaps it was a new area with different clientele or it could have been people out buying gifts for friends and family. Decorative honey jars, gift packs and all honey jars sold well. Hopefully tomorrow will produce similar results.
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"Last Sunday we had a special market in a different location to where we normally sell. It was drizzling with rain all day. 80% of our honey sold on that day. It was our best outing to date. Perhaps it was a new area with different clientele or it could have been people out buying gifts for friends and family. Decorative honey jars, gift packs and all honey jars sold well. Hopefully tomorrow will produce similar results."
Perhaps both, with a touch of good salesmanship along with good ethics combined, including your wise marketing strategies which you have kindly shared here.
Les you have been a shining example of what can be accomplished with a bit of 'going the extra effort'. I salute you and your family, while thanking you for sharing your strategies while posting such here at Beemaster Forums throughout conversations with our fellow Beemaster Members.
"Merry Christmas" to you and yours!
Phillip
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May you, your family and the rest of the forum also have a festive season filled with cheer and share the joy of having loved ones close by.
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May you, your family and the rest of the forum also have a festive season filled with cheer and share the joy of having loved ones close by.
Thank you Les.. 🙂
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Used up the last of my pallet material yesterday making some more boxes for honey gift packs. They sold well at the markets on Sunday. Time to go out, find some more and break them up. I ordered a pneumatic denailer a couple of days ago. When it arrives I?ll give a report on how well it works. A guy on the stall next to me on Sunday bought one and said that it was a good toy for that purpose. Hopefully it will save a lot of time.
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I ordered a pneumatic denailer a couple of days ago. When it arrives I?ll give a report on how well it works.
Got one from Amazon just a few weeks ago. Only played with it a little and think it will be a huge time saver. Sends 90+% all the way out! Plan to set up a small plastic barrel with something inside that will prevent the nails from ricocheting and going every where.
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This is the first I've heard of a pneumatic denailer. Have these been out for a while or are they something new?
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I?d never heard of them either. Mine arrived today. I will get a few pallets to give it a work out in a few days. Don?t know how long they have been around. Only heard about them on Sunday. It was a Chinese unit and cost me $78Au. Will post some pics and a report when I get a chance.
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This is the first I've heard of a pneumatic denailer. Have these been out for a while or are they something new?
Suggestion on Amazon when I bought a pallet buster "Frequently bought together". Mine was $50, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003X2QM3G (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003X2QM3G)
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William,
If you look at the reviews, that unit tends to jam a lot. I think it?s mainly when you try to remove skinny headless nails. Bee careful.
Jim Altmiller
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That?s similar to the unit that I purchased. Should be great for removing pallet nails. The guy who I spoke to said that some nails would be pushed out fully and would fly around the workshop. A bucket or bin with a cover should prevent this from occurring as well as holding the waste nails.
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The nail remover has a tube that passes over the point of the nail. If the nail is bent, it can be straightened with the device just prior to pulling the trigger. A lid was made for a bucket which contained a hole for the nails to be punched through. The denailer worked as expected and punched all nails into the bucket within a minute or so. This is going to be a real time saver.
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With a bit of rain around, it was going to be a day in the workshop. Had the laser cutter running most of the morning running off a couple of projects for the grandkids followed by some end bars for comb honey frames. While I was gluing up the end bars, I loaded some material into the machine and started cutting comb honey frames. It was nice to be able to do two things at once.
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It's good to see you are enjoying your Laser machine Les....
Phillip
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With markets coming up in a couple of weeks, thought it would be a good idea to turn up a few wooden lids for my feature jars. A few adjustments were made to the burn rates on the bee image which produced much better results. The first coat of Danish oil was liberally applied and really lifted the engraved lines and gave greater contrast and clarity.
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I started putting together the first stages of the trap. I decided to go with 7 escapes I order to make stapling a bit easier. The base of the trap will have bee space included. End grain of plywood will be set into a trench or a rebate where possible. I can?t really attempt anything else until my pollen trap strips arrive so that spacing can be calculated. The size of the pollen drawer will be determined after the bottom mesh layer is installed. Components are only screwed together at this stage.
Les do you have this build on your YouTube channel?
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Hi Phillip
No I don?t. Over the winter I may put up a few bee related videos when I have more time. This may be one of them. I?m also thinking of a few videos related to turned wooden lids and some of the engraving projects that I have experimented with. Preparation for markets, fishing and prospecting burn up quite a bit of time.
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Thanks Les, I look forward to more of your videos..
Phillip
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I have been using the laser engraver for a few months now and finally got round to making a work bench to hold it. Just got tired of setting up a fold out table and connecting up all the cables every time it needed to be used. Decided that it had to be dust proof as it would live in the workshop. The dust cover/ extraction unit protects the engraver and all other components live in the cupboard below the unit. The table is on casters and a slide out laptop shelf solves all storage issues. Just completed a test run on a series of turned lids that needed a bee image engraved into the surface. Everything worked as it should and will now save time in the long run.
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Finally found some quiet time to get onto the laser and produce a jig for engraving business cards. With the artwork done and the file created, it?s now just a simple matter of positioning the aluminium blanks into the jig and starting the engraver. It is quite a slow operation to cut 12 cards but I?m always doing something else during the engraving process.
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Nice!
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Hi Folks,
Just uploaded a YouTube clip on how I make the wooden lids for my honey jars. It?s all visual with no narration due to the noise of the machinery. Hope you can get something from it.
Cheers
Les
https://youtu.be/H-1MnQE-52Y?si=xnz-RpeIzcMW1Buz
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I just watched your video Les, all of it! I can?t complement you enough. Those lids look outstanding. If I had the equipment I would do it too! I don?t see how anyone at the markets can compete with you.
Phillip
PS
I also hit the like button.
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Just whipped up (Farm Girl Style) 2 Long Lang hives from 1/2" ply. Cut all bits on circular saw and then smaller things on the small table saw. Screws, long staples, drill.
Then 2" foam all around (not bottom).
Drill battery died so had to stop for coffee. Then back out to do a few holes for bottom verts.
Sorry no pics yet. They are nothing fancy but it kept me busy today on a nice almost 70?F out !
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Thumbs Up!
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After jarring up some honey, I had to make quite a few swing tag labels. Decided to maker a permanent jig for holding the printed labels sheets in place while the laser cutter drilled the tag holes and cut individual labels out. Used some thick cardboard for the template and used the laser to cut both the locking tabs and the A4 cutout. This jig can now be slipped accurately into place when ever needed. It will be a time saver for cutting out the labels. Every cut is clean and precise. It takes 45 seconds for the machine to drill the holes and cut out 12 labels.
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Les I think you got me hooked on the laser engraver.
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Les,
I have been looking at engravers for a while now. Which one do you have?
Jim Altmiller
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Hi Jim,
I ended up getting the Creality Falcon 2. It?s a 22w machine. Cuts through 12mm pine quite well. There is also a 40w machine available but it is quite a bit more to buy. I?m happy with this laser for what I do.
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I just looked it up, $809. Where do you have it setup at? I have been watching reviews of all types of lasers and two things that they point out are getting rid of the fumes and high chance of fire. How is this one?
Jim Altmiller
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A few months ago I bought a cover for the engraver. It comes with its own built in extraction fan and flexible tubing. I now duct the air out of a window in the workshop. It works well. The cover also protects the unit from dust which is potentially a problem. I recently made a portable table to hold the engraver. It is on wheels which means that I can move it close to a window when I want to use it. I will photograph the device I made to hold ducting in place in the window opening.
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Fire has not been an issue but it could potentially be a problem if you used incorrect settings. It has its own built in air system and a fire warning setting. I make sure that when in use, I keep an eye on what is happening.
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Les,
With my Creality Ender 5 Plus, prints can take hours, and in some cases days to print. This means it gets unwatched for long periods of time. How long are your longest prints?
Jim Altmiller
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Most of what I am doing takes only a short period of time. Large, complex engraving jobs could take a couple of hours but the beekeeping stuff that I make generally takes anywhere from a minute to 30 minutes. From memory, the comb honey frames take about an hour for 32 pieces to be cut.
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Hi Jim,
I have attached a photo of the engraver cover. It comes with its own dust extraction fan and ducting. The second photo although not clear shows how it is ducted out through a sliding window. A strip of plywood about 4 inches wide is cut to fit the window opening. A hole is cut in the plywood for the gas to escape. I found a food tin of the right size to suit the ducting and attached it to the plywood hole. The ducting is then pushed onto the can when the engraver needs to be used. It does it?s job exceptionally well.
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Les,
Here is what I found on Amazon.
https://a.co/d/8KZ1T5D
It doesn?t look anything like your model.
Do you have more info on your model?
Is it on Amazon?
Jim Altmiller
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I just found this on Amazon.
https://a.co/d/095MPZn
Looks like it might bee what you have. Is it?
Jim Altmiller
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Hi Jim,
That?s my laser. The enclosure is possibly the new update and should do the job.
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Les,
Two questions.
What software do you use for designing your cutting and engraving?
Have you tried to engrave your logo directly onto the canning lids?
Jim Altmiller
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Hi Jim,
I use Lightburn as it seemed to be the best one out there from what I read. If you want to design complex graphics, other software packages can be used and the drawings can then be imported for burning. I have never tried engraving onto a lid. I think a black metal lid could possibly be engraved. I might have a go later and post the results. Not sure if it would impact on the inner seal or make the lid prone to rusting. The idea is worth pursuing.
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Thanks Les, I will be checking out Lightburn. Let me know about engraving the lids.
Jim Altmiller
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Hi Jim, I did a quick sample engraving using my name and a bee image and engraved it into an old, black lid. The quality was excellent but when I looked under the lid, it looks as though it may have been a bit hot and marked the plastic seal. I think this could be reduced by either increasing the laser speed or reducing the power. This could be a good option on the tops of honey jars as the process could be easily set up with a jig to accurately engrave about a dozen lids at a time. I don?t think that white or gold lids would work as well as the surfaces would be too reflective. Good thinking Jim, this may be another way to make honey stand out and look a bit different to what is currently available.
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Thanks Les.
I just received an email advising Creality Falcon 2 is on sale for $519, $555 including tax, no shipping. I ordered it and then ordered the cover on Amazon, $69.
Do you have a Honeycomb Laser Bed. Do I need it?
Does this Laser come with Laser design software?
Jim Altmiller
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I don?t think that the engraving did any significant damage to the seal, do you?
Jim Altmiller
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The quality was excellent but when I looked under the lid, it looks as though it may have been a bit hot and marked the plastic seal.
I don?t think that the engraving did any significant damage to the seal, do you?
Les, do Australian canning lids have sealer in the center of the lids as well? Our two piece lids here in America only have the sealer around the edge of the lid.
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Les I really like the lids! (Good idea Jim..) It seems the possibilities are unlimited with your engraver. What are the maintenance details for keeping it going such as replacing parts? Are there certain parts can be expected to fail before others? How long will the machine be functional before you can expect to to fail beyond normal repair practicality?
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I'm thinking that the seal is around the edged but the entire lid has a protective coating on it to keep foodstuffs off of the metal.
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Terri, you answered Reagan?s question well. The seal is around the outside but there is a protective layer covering the entire inside of the lid. As I said earlier, a few setting adjustments would probably make a difference to any marking on the inside. There was no damage done but some of the engraving changed the colour of the seal. Jim, it sounds like you got a great price on the engraver. You guys always appear to be able to buy stuff much cheaper than what we can (even after the money rate conversion was applied). If you want to cut any material, a honeycomb bed will be needed. From memory, it did come with a small one but I ended up buying one that was larger than the cutting capacity of the machine. The machine does not come with any software so you will have to purchase it. There are excellent videos on YouTube in relation to Lightburn. I watched quite a few of them to get me started. The thing I like about Lightburn is that most of my design work can also be done on the package. I am a designer and maker rather than an artistic type of person so this software suits me. There is a free trial of the software that runs for a month. I started that way and found it was so good that I purchased it before the trial ran out. I would suggest that is a good way to start. Phillip, I don?t know the answers to your questions. The only maintenance is to clean the laser lense every now and then. The machine will let you know when that is required. A spare comes with the kit as well. I?m sure that the laser head has a lifespan but it is a plug and play unit so it would be easy to replace. I?m not sure how long the rest of the components will last. I?m sure it would be similar to a 3D printer from that perspective. Jim may be able to answer those questions. I will have another play with lid settings in a day or so to see what improvements I can make.
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Had a quick 5 minute play with the engraver. Reduced power output and added a some simple text. Will need to play with the design a bit but the result was much better on the inside of the lid. A simple jig to hold lids in place would only take a few minutes to make. A dozen lids could be quickly dropped into position and the engraver could do its thing. It would take about 21 minutes to make a dozen lids using the simple design attached.
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You could probably sell those on fleabay and even make a little more with a custom design.
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Les,
Do you have any of the flat brass canning jar lids to do a test on? It would bee great if I could engrave them.
Jim Altmiller
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No I don?t. Not sure how the gold coloured lids would go. I normally use gold lids for honey but the contrast wouldn?t be there even if they could be engraved. I?ll try one to see how it goes.
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Finally a bit of cooler weather. Daytime temps of about 19C down to about 10C overnight. Perfect for making a bit of creamed honey. The ideal temperature is around 14C so we are averaging close to that now. It means that I won?t have to refrigerate the honey for the crystals to form which is a bonus. I started with a bucket of honey that I put into my warming cabinet for 4 days. Any large crystals that were in the honey get dissolved. The bucket of warm honey is then strained and allowed to cool to about 22C before 10% seed honey is added and stirred. The photo shows the honey after 12 hours. It will now be stirred 2 or three times a day for the next three days before being put into jars and allowed to set. Many people like to use really light honeys but I?ve found that customers actually like a slightly darker creamed honey with a stronger flavour. I tend to do both styles as peoples preferences are different. It is now that I wish I had Nigel?s creamed honey machine as that would make an even better product with less manual work. It?s a good way to value add to honey as it always attracts a premium price. Return customers at the markets indicate that it is a popular product.
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Les I sold completely out of creamed honey in one day, I have to reconcile the books but I think approximately 26 lbs. It is always one of my best sellers, (when I have it). I want to start doing this more efficiently.
question 1 How do you deal with the foam when you use a power tool. Other than scraping.
Question 2 No matter how I packaged the top, when opened didnt look very good. I tried inverted but then the product was on the lid.
Ive been doing mine by hand , but it is very slow an not efficient, but looks good when done.
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Hi Bill,
I made a counter rotating stirrer with two paddles. One paddle lifts the honey and the other pushes the honey down. You can see that there are a few air bubbles on the honey at the moment but they will disappear next time it is stirred. I don?t have issues with foam so I can?t comment on that. Perhaps Nigel has some knowledge in this area. It does sound like you are getting a lot of air into the honey.
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Hi Jim,
I finally got around to using the laser on a gold lid. It was just an old rusty one that I found but as you can see, it has very little impact. It does engrave away the gold colouring but the contrast I?d poor. Black or dark coloured lids would be the obvious choice here.
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Thanks for trying. My Falcon 2 was supposed to arrive yesterday but it is stuck in transit. I have been watching videos on Lasergrbl and LightBurn. I downloaded both of them to try them out. I think I?m going to use LithtBurn.
Jim Altmiller
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After 3 days the honey is ready for jarring up. Honey colour is starting to lighten and thicken up. Better get it into containers before it sets.