Queen's ?

[MikeyN.C.]

I'm going to try cloake board method this year. Question do you wait until after swarm season i your area ?

[BeeMaster2]

No, preferably right before swarm season.
You can do it anytime there is a flow but if you do it too many times, you will not make any honey.
Jim

[MikeyN.C.]

Thanks Jim,
Getting ready to go in some boxes in 45mins. I'm thinking we're close to swarms, not sure have been out of town. Weather's good this weekend.  So if i have strong boxes and no swarm cells , I can go ahead an start cloake method ? And if i have swarm cells,  should i split and wait to do cloake method?

[MikeyN.C.]

Not worried about honey just genetics.

[BeeMaster2]

Thanks Jim,
Getting ready to go in some boxes in 45mins. I'm thinking we're close to swarms, not sure have been out of town. Weather's good this weekend.  So if i have strong boxes and no swarm cells , I can go ahead an start cloake method ? And if i have swarm cells,  should i split and wait to do cloake method?

Before you open the hive, listen for queens piping. If you hear piping, carefully open the hive with minimum smoke and slowly work your way through the hive and remove the queens as you find cells. As soon as you disturb the bees around the queen cells the queens will start hatching. Bee sure to have a dozen queen cages ready. If the there is no piping and the swarm cells are capped, the hive has probably swarmed. If the hive is still strong, I would split it making sure that both boxes have queen cells. If you have more than 2 brood boxes, I would make up one double screen board and at minimum, a single screen board. Smoke from the top down to move a possible existing queen into the bottom box and inspect each level. Put a new empty brood box wisth a 1 1/4 hole drilled in the front of the box on have an entrance in the screen board for each new level,  on the single screen and put the frames in the new box as you inspect. Then put the now empty brood box on top of the double screen box and put the frames in as you inspect. Make sure you have either queen cells or eggs/new larvae in every box. You can do this instead of using the cloak board or us it for one of  levels. I did this for a 3 deep hive one month before BeeFest and all 3 levels had queens and larvae and we made 3 hives from them and they all look good.
Jim

[Troutdog]

I'm going to try cloake board method this year. Question do you wait until after swarm season i your area ?

Make queens when they would make them.
The beauty of the cloake board is you really do not lose any honey production.
I think its 24 hrs separated then add grafts and remove slider next 24 hrs or regraft non taking cells.

Be aware hives have a limit on how many cells they build on potential, aka cell building potential.

Super important is make sure you have food next to grafts. A week of syrup and at least 2 pollen frames seems to raise this number on potential.
Personally I love the cloake enjoy.

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[capt44]

I use the cloake board method a lot.
I never put more grafts in the upper box than the bees can care for.
Usually around 54 at a time.
I place sugar syrup on top to aid in feeding the larva.
Too many grafts can mean they aren't getting fed properly before they are capped off.
Like the old saying goes "A well reared Queen from lessor stock will Outperform a Poorly reared Queen from Better Stock"

[little john]

I never put more grafts in the upper box than the bees can care for.
Usually around 54 at a time.

Strewth !  And I thought I was pushing it with 16 ...

Mind you, just about everything is bigger in America (even the National Debt) 
BTW - I now use a divided Cloake Board, which is basically a hybrid between the Cloake and Morris Boards, and which has a pair of 5-frame nuc boxes on top.  These can be used one at a time or both together.  With a small colony it's best to use just the one - and then watch all those foragers cram themselves into that small box - it's a sight worth seeing !
LJ

[Robo]

LJ,

Can you elaborate on what you mean by a hybrid between the two?   I also have gone to the Morris board over the Cloake.   I like the fact of not having to shuffle the bottom board around.