Today I Made

[Lesgold]

Good stuff Jim. They are a good little project for the laser.  I had a similar problem when I tried to cut some ebony for this project. The black timber was hard to cut especially on the winter growth  which is quite hard. Now that we have the files saved, we can make them at our leisure. This toy is turning into a fantastic beekeepers tool. 😀😀😀😀

[Lesgold]

It?s a bit of a wet day here so getting into the bees is not a possibility. Honey is ready for the markets tomorrow and the last of the screened bottom boards were completed yesterday. That was a good job to get out of the way. A few were installed a couple of days ago and within seconds, SHB started falling into the diatomaceous earth that was placed in the tray. The bees adjusted to the lack of a landing board and started using the new entrance without issue. Looks like I?m now ready (but not looking forward to) the arrival of varroa.

[Lesgold]

Been thinking about SHB a lot lately. Even though they are a pest, I?ve been able to get away without using traps by keeping hives strong. When varroa arrives and feral hives collapse as well as many hives become weaker due to varroa infestation, SHB will become more of an issue than it was in the past. That?s one reason why SBB?s were built for my particular situation and location. Many years ago I tried using CD cases loaded with diatomaceous earth. They did work but the powder wasn?t contained and would spill if you weren?t careful. This morning I decided to draw up a plan that I?d been thinking about for ages. Basically it was a trap about the size of a CD case but it contains a small well that would hold lime, DE or even oil if it was sealed. The plan only took about half an hour to draw up as many components were duplicated. Essentially it is a 3mm plywood base with tapered sides to allow the beetle to crawl up off the frame and enter the trap. Another piece of ply is positioned on top of the first and contains the well. Small locating lugs/ spacers fit into slots with a lid finally positioned on top of the trap. The components were cut from scrap material and cutting time was only 5 or 6 minutes.

[Lesgold]

To assemble the trap, the base and well are glued in place with lugs positioned and glued at the same time. The slots and tenons always align perfectly so everything pushes into place. The base and entry to the trap have a bevel sanded onto the edge for the beetle to crawl up.

[Lesgold]

The lid is not glued so it can be removed for cleaning. It is positioned in place while the glue sets which ensures a perfect lid fit at a later date. If oil was to be used, the well could be sealed with a coat of bondcrete, polyurethane or even a couple of coats of paint.

[BeeMaster2]

Les,
Looks good, let us know how it works out.
I was looking at my 3d printer while stringing up the laser cut queen cages/markers. Then I decided to design one in Fusion to make one out of plastic.
They work better than the wood. The only drawback is it takes an hour to print one. The good thing is that you don?t have to baby sit them.
If anyone has a 3d printer and wants a copy of the design, just PM me. I just don?t want to see it on etsee or Thingiverse.
Jim Altmiller

[Lesgold]

Good thinking Jim. I haven?t had anything to do with a 3D printer but I reckon it would have heaps of uses related to beekeeping. The plastic would have uniform strength around the marking cage compared to wood.

[Lesgold]

Just finished making a splitter board for a two queen hive. Will need to have everything organised before the summer flow. Will be using the hive specifically for comb honey production. I?m hoping the bees will draw comb, fill and cap cells in a short period of time.

[Lesgold]

I?ve found that the bandsaw is one of the most consistently used tools in the workshop for making beekeeping equipment. It gets used most days when I?m down in the shed working with timber. My stock of bandsaw blades finally ran out after many years. The last one was very blunt and desperately needed replacing so it was time to look into purchasing some. Had a bit of a reality check when the current blade price was checked. Each blade was going to cost between $50 and $100 (plus postage) depending on blade width. Many years ago I used to make my own from a bulk roll that I purchased but unfortunately the jigs that I made were thrown out. Thought I?d make a couple of improvements to what I once did and knock a few up. The blades are silver soldered and a scarf joint is used. I used to grind the bevels by eye but this time a simple grinding jig was constructed from timber to do the job. The disc sander was used to create the bevel and a cam locking mechanism locked the blade in place. I?m sure you can figure out how it works.

[Lesgold]

Once the scarf joints are cut on each end of the blade, they are held in place on a metal jig constructed from RHS steel. The jig holds both halves of the blade in perfect alignment for the hard soldering process. Flux is added to both surfaces and heat is applied to the joint area. Once the correct temperature is achieved, the silver solder is added to the joint area.

[Lesgold]

The silver solder readily flows into the joint area and provides a very strong joint. 45% silver solder was used for this process. Although very expensive, only a small amount is needed for the joint. A quick clean up with a flap disc and the blade is ready for use. This type of blade joint is very strong and I?ve never had one break. After making 4 of them, the bandsaw will be back in operation for quite a few months.

[BeeMaster2]

Les,
I have never seen saw blades put together like that.
I have a very old saw blade welder that was in A workshop that came with the property that I bought 4 years ago.
You put the blade in the tool and clamp it down with it just touching. Then you connect the power leads to a battery and it welds the blade. I have never tried to use it. I guess it is time to try it out. I will try to post a picture later.
Jim Altmiller

[Lesgold]

Hi Jim,
Some of the high end bandsaws have a built in spot welder for that purpose. Most of the commercial bandsaw blades that you buy are made that way.

[Lesgold]

Just got back from a few days up in Sydney. Visited a couple of beekeeping suppliers and came back home with an empty wallet and a ute full of jars and goodies. Grabbed a few cell cups while I was up there. Decided it was time to graft a few queens to replace some of the older girls in the hives. I haven?t had to graft any for a couple of years and the old cell cups that I had were looking a bit second hand after being used a couple of times. I?ve often thought about making my own from beeswax but just never got around to it. On the long drive home, the idea hit me that some of the cell cups that had just been purchased could be used to make a mould. Here is the cell cups that I use.

[Lesgold]

I decided to make one small, single cell cup mould and test it before going any further. Didn?t want to waste silicone or cell cups if the idea failed. A flat piece of plastic was used a a base and one cell cup was super glued to it. A piece of PVCTube was cut to the desired length and then spit so that the silicone mould could be extracted. Hot melt glue was used to secure and seal all cut surfaces. The silicone was then mixed and poured. The silicone was left overnight to cure and then the cell cup and tubing was removed. The result was a nice, shiny mould.

[Lesgold]

Being impatient, I wanted to try the mould out straight away. Didn?t feel like setting up the water bath for heating the wax but instead, the heat gun was used to melt some wax in my stainless jug. It only took 40 seconds to liquify enough wax for the job. After casting, the wax would set in an about 5 minutes and then the mould would be placed into the freezer for a short period of time. This would ensure that the wax would shrink slightly and make the casting easier to remove. The first couple of cups had small air pockets on the leading edge which caused a bit of frustration. Eventually a solution was found. If the mould was partially filled, and then squeezed in the area of the cup, any trapped air would be released. The resulting cups were smooth and ready for use. I was considering making a large mould that would hold about a dozen cups but after making a few, the thin walled mould would be a better option so a few more singles will be constructed.

[Terri Yaki]

Nothing compared to what Lesgold makes but I made a mouse guard out of some vinyl I have laying around. After finishing, I got to thinking that mice could chew through it if they wanted to. What do yous think? I don't have much of a mouse problem here because I have a childless cat lady next door and my own front line defenses. I could probably scrounge up some workable steel and bend into shape and make them if I had to.

Defense #1 and #2

[The15thMember]

Oh, pretty kitty!  I think vinyl is probably no deterrent to a mouse.  I use stainless steal mouse guards on some of my hives, but not all, since I don't have enough mouse guards to go round anymore.  We have lots of stray cats around too, and we rarely have mouse trouble.  I just reduce the entrances with my wooden entrance reducers on my strongest colonies, put the stainless steel mouse guards on the smaller colonies, and it's working so far.  If I have a problem ever, I'll probably get more mouse guards, but until then, I haven't found them to be absolutely necessary in my area at least.       

[Lesgold]

Never had problems with mice and I have no idea as to the reason. Would love to hear what the issues are and what damage the mice actually do. I assume they enter the hive and create havoc. I did find two rat nests under bottom boards that were replaced yesterday. One nest even had young, pink rats that would have only been a week or two old. The kookaburras were very impressed with the find. Terri, the mouse guard in picture 1 would be difficult to attach to a hive. Even if you came up with a solution, I don?t think it would be overly popular with the general population.

[Terri Yaki]

Oddly enough, that first one seems to be on good terms with the girls. When I sit and observe the hives, she sits with me and has yet to be stung. And one time, she shoved her nose right into their entrance. They must have some sort of peace treaty.