Beekeepers are so generous !!

[Jen]

Actually I just kept staring at it cause it was so beautiful! I should have just hooked it onto my ceiling.... snark!

[Jen]

riv said "i use my notch side down, always up here,  i do that lazy, as you said for ventilation and exit/entrance"

I have also learned that notch down leaves an easy opportunity for ant invasion. Notch up gives the bees a better chance of dealing with the invasion ~  fyi

I should be getting my winter patties tomorrow or early next week, that will help me determine if I need a shim or not.

[riverbee]

jen, notch down, this time of year do you still have ant problems or ant invasion?

[LazyBkpr]

Ants...   we dont have issues with them, and I have YET to see a small hive beetle, so different locations require different methods!!!!
   Wax moth here is incredibly BAD..  put an old frame in a swarm trap, go back a week later and you will see the beginnings of wax moth invasion.   So taking advice from someone that KNOWS is usually a good step!!!

[Jen]

riv- I had ants the first two seasons, but not bad, and they came cause I was using the sugar roll for mite testing. Last year I had no ants cause I now test for mites with a sbb and sticky board. It's not a problem anymore.

[riverbee]

jen, i don't have problems with pests, ants, wax moth or shb, just bears, so i use my inner cover notch side down, like i said earlier, personal preference and pest problems, ventilation, entrance/exit will help you determine/dictate if it goes up or down.  use what works and is best for  you!

[Jen]

riv- ya, I'm thinking notch down to fit my winter patties and ventilation for now. I'm real excited about this inner board Lazy made for me. Just gotta get a warm day to install.

[Gypsi]

it hits 100 here for an average of 5 to 6 hours per day and an average of 45 days out of the year with an average humidity of 45%. Bearding and irritable bees are the end result of solid inner covers with only the small opening in the center. If I run an inner cover it is either windowscreen or #8 hardware cloth.  I also have a shade tree that gives the hives some shade after 4 pm.

I run migratory covers in summer with a 3 inch hole drilled in the middle and #8 hardware cloth on the inside of the migratory cover. Feed jar goes in the center.  Bees have full access to the interior top and there are no hidey holes for shb.

Your mileage may vary.

[Jen]

Gypsi- I like the migratory covers. Mine doesn't have a hole in the center, I just push the cover over a bit and carefully follow it with this window screening. It's fun to see their little faces pressed up to the screen a night ~

[Gypsi]

I make my own migratory covers and I bought a 3 inch drill bit, because robbing is so fierce here with the dearth, the only safe way to feed the bees is inside the hive. And the dearth is going on year 3, we get very very short spells of flow. So I saw these feeder boards on another forum, and the guy said I had to get this $40 a sheet fancy masonite, and I went to Home Depot and got a $15 sheet of half inch plywood and I own a circular saw.

[LazyBkpr]

  One end table done.. Onje left to build....

  And guess what i got today to set on it for the picture??

  Need a closeup?





  Thats Jens Honey lotion!!    Its hidden in the fridge at the moment, but I am sure she will find it soon.. at which point the begging begins, and the DEAL must be made!!!

[Jen]

Ooooh Wow!    Glad it arrived safely! I had mental images of it getting broken and making a soggy mess of the USPostal services machines. $5,000 fine for lying at the counter that there was nothing parishable in the box! Enjoy! It sure can't can't hurt ya!

Thanks for posting this Lazy 

[LazyBkpr]

YW, and tyvm for sending it. This is certainly worth WAY more than the inner cover Jen..  Unfortunately, she found it within 5 minutes of being home. i got HOUNDED for close to two hours, but she has happy feets now. She liked it, and I got promises of compensation for diligently rubbing it into those feets        

[Jen]

 

[Perry]

YW, and tyvm for sending it. This is certainly worth WAY more than the inner cover Jen..  Unfortunately, she found it within 5 minutes of being home. i got HOUNDED for close to two hours, but she has happy feets now. She liked it, and I got promises of compensation for diligently rubbing it into those feets        

Sooooooooo, she's letting you buy more be stuff then? 

[LazyBkpr]

Bee stuff??      LOL that never even entered the debate!!   

[Jen]

NOT! I don't know how to do your trade, and you don't know how to do my trade! There is not a measure of value here, just trading within the love of our hobbies. Well, for me it's a hobby