Today I Made

[Lesgold]

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.

[BeeMaster2]

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

[Lesgold]

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.

[Lesgold]

After a bit of trial and error, I finally came up with a simple design for a queen cage to help battle varroa. A commercial cage that looked interesting was not readily available in my location so I decided to make my own. I started with an old plastic queen excluder for the sides of the cage. A queen excluder should allow nurse bees to enter but prevent the queen from escaping. Dimensions were made to suit the frames that I was using. Two sides were marked out and cut with tinsnips. The top lips of the cage will slip over the frame top bar and will basically keep the frame in place. A pin could be used to support the cage if needed. 25x6mm timber was then cut for the 4 sides of the cage. Two sides of the cage were then quickly stapled to the base.

[Lesgold]

1mm attachment holes were then drilled through the cage sides and tacks were used to attach the cage sides to the base. The top bar of the frame was held in place and a 1mm hole was drilled through both the frame sides and the top. This would form a hinge for the top of the cage. A chamfer was then sanded on the top to allow it to pivot open.
A couple of 1mm diameter pins were then made from galvanised wire. The hinged lid was then attached with one of the wires. This allowed the lid to pivot open for the insertion or removal of the queen.

[Lesgold]

With the lid closed, another hole was drilled to lock the lid closed. This pin would a slip pin that could be removed as required. An old frame was used to see how well the cage could be located. Some of the comb was cutout with a sharp knife and then the top wire was snipped to allow the cage to be inserted. If this system works effectively, the top wire won?t be inserted into future brood frames. As we won?t be allowed to move brood frames into honey supers when varroa hits, this won?t be an issue.

[Occam]

Brilliant. I like the simple design and operation. Very much along the lines of what I had in my head. Keep us posted on how it works. If it goes well might be something you could sell to fellow beeks that don't make their own equipment

[Lesgold]

Thanks Occam. I wanted to keep the design as simple as possible to keep construction time down. As to how well it works, time will tell.

[Lesgold]

After the link you showed me Occam, I thought I?d have a go at making something similar using the materials that are on hand. I have a couple of plastic queen excluders (which I don?t particularly like) which will be used for the experiments. They are easy to cut with tinsnips so that makes the construction simple. I decided to go for an isolation cage that would be the size of a frame. This would mean that the queen could be isolated, confined into the frame and still have bees attend to her needs. As it is the size of a frame, burr comb should not be built. Decided to cut up some material so that the frame would be 25mm wide. Australian 10 frame boxes are a bit faulty in their design. 10 frames can fit in but gee they are tight. By having the queen isolating frame a little bit narrower that a standard frame width, it should fit in without any problems. Half a queen excluder would not give the depth required so the bottom bar was cut to 50mm. You will see what I mean later. A narrow crown stapler was used to assemble the components. No gluing is required. One half of the queen excluder was then trimmed, drilled and attached with tacks.

[Lesgold]

A block of wood was positioned in the centre of the frame as a resting place for the queen. On the other side of the frame, a hole was made so that the queen could be inserted or removed. It was placed in one corner so that the queen could be shaken to this location if required. A simple door was then attached. I have no idea as to how effective this frame or the queen cage will be. Next spring, both methods will be tested to see if either is effective. Each design is quick and easy to make and the cost is minimal. Will report back when each design is inserted into hives.

[BeeMaster2]

Les,
My father-in-law made something similar to this using number 8 hard ware cloth to use as a queen introducer. I made several copies to try it. It worked great but I always had to take it apart to get the queen out. For that reason I quit using it. The corner entrance might just bee the answer.
Jim Altmiller

[Michael Bush]

If you use #5 hardware cloth the workers can go through but the queen can't.

[Terri Yaki]

Jim, now that you mention it, that door might make a good addition to Les' cage.

[Lesgold]

If only we could buy hardware cloth here. It?s as scarce as hens teeth. We need to import it from you guys in America and it?s as dear as poison. I?m hoping the little entrance works.

[Terri Yaki]

Is there a difference between 'hardware cloth' and 'steel mesh'?

[BeeMaster2]

It is steel mesh. Funny name.
Jim Altmiller

[Ben Framed]

It?s refered to as either, or.

Les as I recall you were having trouble finding it in number 8, (1/8 inch) as well back when you were making oil trays. I will tell you that even in my surrounding area, each are hard to find for me as well. It has almost reached the point that it will need to come from one of the logistic, or large retail corporations.

[Occam]

Looks great, I'm eager to hear back how they go when you use them next year. The corner door was a great idea as long as it doesn't get accidentally skids open installing the frame

[Lesgold]

Thanks Occam. The swing door has a screw pivot. When I initially made the door, a simple pin for the pivot point was what came to mind as did your concern. A bit of tension on the screw results in some force being required to move the door. I?m hoping that solution will solve the potential problem.

[Bill Murray]

I like it les, I have 2 plastic excluders that I hate/ bees also in my opinion. looks like a good use for them.