Today I Made

[Lesgold]

I decided to purchase an 18v Instantvap before too many people noticed that they were available. When Oxalic acid eventually becomes approved, it will be an invaluable tool to help control varroa. It will be put aside for a period of time but I thought that it would be wiser to be prepared rather than having to react at a later date. I purchased the unit that was compatible with 18v Makita as that is what I run in the workshop. A couple of batteries will easily do the job and should allow the process to be undertaken in a small amount of time. The screened bottom boards that I have been making don?t have landing boards at the front and the idea of drilling and plugging holes in brood boxes didn?t really appeal to me so i thought a jig would be handy to help hold the vaporiser in place. I also noticed that a lot of people use towels to block the entrance when using Oxalic to keep much of the acid gas within the hive. That system seems to work well but I thought that I could improve upon that. Here is what I came up with. A small model was put together originally to see if the components would work and once a few problems were sorted, the full size holding jig was constructed.

[Lesgold]

A piece of aluminium C channel was used to construct the jig. Once shaped, a strip of timber slightly narrower than the hive opening was screwed to the front. A 1/4? hole was drilled through the aluminium and the timber strip to allow the nozzle to slide in place. A piece of bungee cord was added to secure the vaporiser to the jig. It?s pretty self explanatory as to how it works. The whole hive entrance will be blocked when the vaporiser is pushed into place. A bungee cord with a piece of 3/4? dowel and two hooks were made to hold the unit in place during the vaporisation. The hooks would be positioned in the hand holds on the far side of the brood box. This would push the jig into the correct position and hold the unit in place for the duration of the process. The second hook is positioned for a second brood box if needed.

[Lesgold]

I sat a box and lid on top of the pile of bottom boards to see how well it would work. Setup time was less than 3 seconds and the unit sat nicely in place. I assume that some Oxalic vapour will escape but it should only be a small amount. At this stage, I don?t think seals will be required. In the first photo, you can see how the nozzle protrudes through the timber strip. The last two images show the vaporiser in place. When in position, the bottom of the battery sits well above the bottom of the SBB cleats which means that the jig would still work even if the hive was sitting on the ground. Ideally, stainless would have been the best option for the jig but I didn?t have any in stock.

[max2]

Very clever!

[Lesgold]

Thanks Max. It?s all about saving time and in the end, I believe the 18v battery powered units will be the quickest way to go. There are cheaper options available but convenience and simplicity wins out in the end. One day at the markets selling honey will pay for the unit. It?s really just a waiting game now for authorities to do their thing so that we can legally treat in a way that many other counties have been for a while now. I?m sure there is a stringent process that will have to be followed before many of the varroa treatments can be approved. The first task for them is to reinvent the wheel and start from scratch before taking the next step. I?m sure they will figure it out eventually.

[Lesgold]

Labelled my first small batch of ginger infused honey using Max?s recipe. (Thanks Max, it tastes delightful). Will see what the reaction is like at this weekends market. Once people taste it, I think many will be impressed. Home grown ginger was used in the infusion.

[Lesgold]

Jim gave me an idea when we were talking about using the laser cutter for making a queen marking cage. I have a club meeting coming up shortly so I thought I?d cut out some blanks for members who want one. A scrap piece of MDF was loaded onto the table and a bunch of them were cut while I was doing some other work. Club members will just have to hit in some frame pins and then thread the cotton. The difficult part is already made.

[BeeMaster2]

Looks good Les. When you installed the thread did you weave it in and out like a wicker basket or did you just put all of the layers in one direction and then do the second direction?
Jim Altmiller

[Lesgold]

Hi Jim,

I went in one direction and then went back at 90 degrees. Didn?t see any reason to weave. When I tried it out on a queen, it worked well. I?m pleased that Nigel presented this idea. It gives  people with lasers a lot of scope to do stuff like this.

[BeeMaster2]

Thanks. I will try it out that way. I?m going to try using fishing line and see if it works.
Jim Altmiller

[Lesgold]

Being all fingers and thumbs, getting a technique that worked took a little bit of practice.  The first one was made using a strong cotton. The last couple were made with a high strength synthetic fibre which was much more durable. I was going to use dental floss but ran out half way through the process. Fishing braid would also be a possibility. Let us know how the fishing line works. My wife would be able to string the cage in half the time that it took me. She has finer fingers and good sewing skills.

[BeeMaster2]

I have lots of dental floss, we get it every time we go to the dentist but never use the ones that they give out, I?m going to try it.
Jim Altmiller

[Ben Framed]

That should work out just fine Jim. Let us know.

Phillip

[NigelP]

I use fishing braid 45lb stuff. Its quite resilient to cutting, which helps as I often clip my queens wings when their wings get positioned to do so.

[Lesgold]

Thanks Nigel. Took the sample batch of ginger infused honey to the markets yesterday. It was a real hit and sold out in two hours. Pressure is on now to make another batch.

[Lesgold]

Decided to try some solid timber for a marking cage. Cut some ironbark timber to a thickness of 2.5mm and then cut two cage washers on the laser. The two were glued together and held exactly in place with some pins. The grain was offset by 90 degrees to  add extra strength. A quick coat of wood oil and then the pins and cotton were added.

[Terri Yaki]

Looking very nice, congratulations on you skills.

[Lesgold]

Thanks TY. I was just  thinking about a comment that Jim made about having some nice oak that he wanted to use for his marking cages. Using this method reduces the chance of the timber splitting along the grain and gives the project some extra strength. As the laser does most of the hard work, it doesn?t take long to make them.

[BeeMaster2]

Les,
Today I worked on making the queen catchers. I started out using your dimensions, inner circle 45 mm; outer circle 50 mm and 24 holes. That turned out to be too weak/thin for the oak. I changed it to 40-55 mm with 24 holes. The oak is 6.6 mm which makes it hard to cut with a 22 watt laser. I had to drill the holes after laser cutting. The first one worked and is shown below. After that they kept breaking at the vertical layers. I switched to 6 mm mahogany plywood and they cut perfectly holes included. After putting the 20 mm frame nails in the wood, I pressed the qc into a cardboard box with 6 mm of the tops sticking up. This held it nicely so that I could thread it. Then I put crazy glue on the top of the nails and thread. Then I pushed all of them into the wood all the way down. I added a touch of crazy glue to each intersection to lock the dental thread in place. I ended up making 6 of them.
The last picture shows the difference between the oak on the left and the mahogany plywood on the right. The second shows the crazy glue still wet.

[BeeMaster2]

The leaning tower of Pisa.
😊