# Apiary



## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

*How would you cut this handle?*

I should probably make this my second entry under this series about building my beehives, but I'd like to ask the community for input on how you would cut these handles. When I made my hive bodies, I just sat the bodies on the saw and raised my dado blade two full turns of the handle to cut a slot and they're okay for my use. However, since my dimensions were off a tiny bit from the "off the rack" hives at the store, I bought one hive body to copy the dimensions more accurately (they only charged $16.95 a piece).

Anyway, to my question: The box I purchased had these nicer looking handle cutouts in the sides and I can't figure out how they cut them. They don't appear to have been cut on a table saw or with a router. I've seen similar cuts with a radial arm saw, but they have a tapered top edge and a round bottom and these are flat. There are no cutter marks in the hole to give me a clue. The pictures are a little big and blown up in photobucket, but I'll leave them large to show the detail. Any suggestions?


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## OhioMike (Jun 24, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *How would you cut this handle?*
> 
> I should probably make this my second entry under this series about building my beehives, but I'd like to ask the community for input on how you would cut these handles. When I made my hive bodies, I just sat the bodies on the saw and raised my dado blade two full turns of the handle to cut a slot and they're okay for my use. However, since my dimensions were off a tiny bit from the "off the rack" hives at the store, I bought one hive body to copy the dimensions more accurately (they only charged $16.95 a piece).
> 
> Anyway, to my question: The box I purchased had these nicer looking handle cutouts in the sides and I can't figure out how they cut them. They don't appear to have been cut on a table saw or with a router. I've seen similar cuts with a radial arm saw, but they have a tapered top edge and a round bottom and these are flat. There are no cutter marks in the hole to give me a clue. The pictures are a little big and blown up in photobucket, but I'll leave them large to show the detail. Any suggestions?


I no longer keep bees but when I did, I made my own supers as well. I got around the issue you're facing by gluing and nailing a 1×2 piece of pine along two sides. It was a better hand hold than the recess.

The only down side is if you keep bees commercially and need to transport the hives by truck. The 1×2 handles take up extra space.

I did it as a hobby so space wasn't a consideration.

Mike


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *How would you cut this handle?*
> 
> I should probably make this my second entry under this series about building my beehives, but I'd like to ask the community for input on how you would cut these handles. When I made my hive bodies, I just sat the bodies on the saw and raised my dado blade two full turns of the handle to cut a slot and they're okay for my use. However, since my dimensions were off a tiny bit from the "off the rack" hives at the store, I bought one hive body to copy the dimensions more accurately (they only charged $16.95 a piece).
> 
> Anyway, to my question: The box I purchased had these nicer looking handle cutouts in the sides and I can't figure out how they cut them. They don't appear to have been cut on a table saw or with a router. I've seen similar cuts with a radial arm saw, but they have a tapered top edge and a round bottom and these are flat. There are no cutter marks in the hole to give me a clue. The pictures are a little big and blown up in photobucket, but I'll leave them large to show the detail. Any suggestions?


I thought about doing a cleat too, but I like the clean look of not having extra lumber tacked on the sides. Over time, I'd like to creatively paint the hives as they are part of my landscaping. Doing the notches the way I did was easy since I had the dado in the saw anyway.


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## TechTeacher04 (Mar 17, 2014)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *How would you cut this handle?*
> 
> I should probably make this my second entry under this series about building my beehives, but I'd like to ask the community for input on how you would cut these handles. When I made my hive bodies, I just sat the bodies on the saw and raised my dado blade two full turns of the handle to cut a slot and they're okay for my use. However, since my dimensions were off a tiny bit from the "off the rack" hives at the store, I bought one hive body to copy the dimensions more accurately (they only charged $16.95 a piece).
> 
> Anyway, to my question: The box I purchased had these nicer looking handle cutouts in the sides and I can't figure out how they cut them. They don't appear to have been cut on a table saw or with a router. I've seen similar cuts with a radial arm saw, but they have a tapered top edge and a round bottom and these are flat. There are no cutter marks in the hole to give me a clue. The pictures are a little big and blown up in photobucket, but I'll leave them large to show the detail. Any suggestions?


Use a raised panel bit on a shaper or router table and do stopped cuts. Careful positioning of the fence and stop and start marks on the fence should yield that profile. You could also try a cove bit on a router depending on the profile it has.

If you did not need a rounded bottom you could use a straight cutting but with a template guide. A ball mill or round nose straight cutting bit could be used to profile the bottom and the straight for the top section. Hopefully one of those 3 ideas will work for you.


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## TechTeacher04 (Mar 17, 2014)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *How would you cut this handle?*
> 
> I should probably make this my second entry under this series about building my beehives, but I'd like to ask the community for input on how you would cut these handles. When I made my hive bodies, I just sat the bodies on the saw and raised my dado blade two full turns of the handle to cut a slot and they're okay for my use. However, since my dimensions were off a tiny bit from the "off the rack" hives at the store, I bought one hive body to copy the dimensions more accurately (they only charged $16.95 a piece).
> 
> Anyway, to my question: The box I purchased had these nicer looking handle cutouts in the sides and I can't figure out how they cut them. They don't appear to have been cut on a table saw or with a router. I've seen similar cuts with a radial arm saw, but they have a tapered top edge and a round bottom and these are flat. There are no cutter marks in the hole to give me a clue. The pictures are a little big and blown up in photobucket, but I'll leave them large to show the detail. Any suggestions?


You could also rip the top section off on the table saw, rout or use a shaper for the cove and then glue the top back on. Just another idea. Good luck


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## OhioMike (Jun 24, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *How would you cut this handle?*
> 
> I should probably make this my second entry under this series about building my beehives, but I'd like to ask the community for input on how you would cut these handles. When I made my hive bodies, I just sat the bodies on the saw and raised my dado blade two full turns of the handle to cut a slot and they're okay for my use. However, since my dimensions were off a tiny bit from the "off the rack" hives at the store, I bought one hive body to copy the dimensions more accurately (they only charged $16.95 a piece).
> 
> Anyway, to my question: The box I purchased had these nicer looking handle cutouts in the sides and I can't figure out how they cut them. They don't appear to have been cut on a table saw or with a router. I've seen similar cuts with a radial arm saw, but they have a tapered top edge and a round bottom and these are flat. There are no cutter marks in the hole to give me a clue. The pictures are a little big and blown up in photobucket, but I'll leave them large to show the detail. Any suggestions?


I read a description, years ago, of a jig that holds the hive body face-down on a table saw with a gap between the cast iron and the workpiece to allow sawdust to escape. The guy began with the blade fully retracted and then:

1 Start the saw
2.Raise the blade about a 1/16" into the work.
3 With the blade still spinning, operate the tilt crank until the blade exits the wood.
4 Repeat until hand-hold is deep enough.

It seems kind of similar to cove cutting in that the blade is cutting with the sides of the teeth and not the front.

It produced a semi-circular hand hold, not the elongated one in your photo.

As I say, I have only read the description and not tried this technique myself.

Go to the 5 minute mark of this video to see a similar technique done on the radial arm saw.

Mike


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## SASmith (Mar 22, 2010)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *How would you cut this handle?*
> 
> I should probably make this my second entry under this series about building my beehives, but I'd like to ask the community for input on how you would cut these handles. When I made my hive bodies, I just sat the bodies on the saw and raised my dado blade two full turns of the handle to cut a slot and they're okay for my use. However, since my dimensions were off a tiny bit from the "off the rack" hives at the store, I bought one hive body to copy the dimensions more accurately (they only charged $16.95 a piece).
> 
> Anyway, to my question: The box I purchased had these nicer looking handle cutouts in the sides and I can't figure out how they cut them. They don't appear to have been cut on a table saw or with a router. I've seen similar cuts with a radial arm saw, but they have a tapered top edge and a round bottom and these are flat. There are no cutter marks in the hole to give me a clue. The pictures are a little big and blown up in photobucket, but I'll leave them large to show the detail. Any suggestions?


Here is how I make my hive bodies, including the handholds.


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## OhioMike (Jun 24, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *How would you cut this handle?*
> 
> I should probably make this my second entry under this series about building my beehives, but I'd like to ask the community for input on how you would cut these handles. When I made my hive bodies, I just sat the bodies on the saw and raised my dado blade two full turns of the handle to cut a slot and they're okay for my use. However, since my dimensions were off a tiny bit from the "off the rack" hives at the store, I bought one hive body to copy the dimensions more accurately (they only charged $16.95 a piece).
> 
> Anyway, to my question: The box I purchased had these nicer looking handle cutouts in the sides and I can't figure out how they cut them. They don't appear to have been cut on a table saw or with a router. I've seen similar cuts with a radial arm saw, but they have a tapered top edge and a round bottom and these are flat. There are no cutter marks in the hole to give me a clue. The pictures are a little big and blown up in photobucket, but I'll leave them large to show the detail. Any suggestions?


Scott, that's it! That's the jig I read about years ago.

Very nice work.

Mike


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *How would you cut this handle?*
> 
> I should probably make this my second entry under this series about building my beehives, but I'd like to ask the community for input on how you would cut these handles. When I made my hive bodies, I just sat the bodies on the saw and raised my dado blade two full turns of the handle to cut a slot and they're okay for my use. However, since my dimensions were off a tiny bit from the "off the rack" hives at the store, I bought one hive body to copy the dimensions more accurately (they only charged $16.95 a piece).
> 
> Anyway, to my question: The box I purchased had these nicer looking handle cutouts in the sides and I can't figure out how they cut them. They don't appear to have been cut on a table saw or with a router. I've seen similar cuts with a radial arm saw, but they have a tapered top edge and a round bottom and these are flat. There are no cutter marks in the hole to give me a clue. The pictures are a little big and blown up in photobucket, but I'll leave them large to show the detail. Any suggestions?


Thanks Scott, that's a great help. When I build hive # 2 this winter in anticipation of a spring split, I'll do them that way. I didn't want to cheat by screwing a cleat on the outside, I think that'd look tacky. I'm planning to build them over the winter and either find someone to creatively paint them, or build little features that I can tack on to make it look like a little Russian building since my queen is about 4th generation Russian.


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## BTKS (Nov 30, 2008)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *How would you cut this handle?*
> 
> I should probably make this my second entry under this series about building my beehives, but I'd like to ask the community for input on how you would cut these handles. When I made my hive bodies, I just sat the bodies on the saw and raised my dado blade two full turns of the handle to cut a slot and they're okay for my use. However, since my dimensions were off a tiny bit from the "off the rack" hives at the store, I bought one hive body to copy the dimensions more accurately (they only charged $16.95 a piece).
> 
> Anyway, to my question: The box I purchased had these nicer looking handle cutouts in the sides and I can't figure out how they cut them. They don't appear to have been cut on a table saw or with a router. I've seen similar cuts with a radial arm saw, but they have a tapered top edge and a round bottom and these are flat. There are no cutter marks in the hole to give me a clue. The pictures are a little big and blown up in photobucket, but I'll leave them large to show the detail. Any suggestions?


Cueball,
Search Carl Korschgen, beehive handles. If you are only making a few hives, his jig and grinder head on the drill press will make a beautiful handle. I have pics of a fixed jig I made to use the same grinder head. I have since used that jig to be a guard on a dedicated shaper for cutting these handles.
I had custom knives made for a shaper application.
Carl has the part number and supply chain to find the grinder head. The head is designed for the tire retread business.
I'll try to find my pics, but no promises.
I've checked with several bit manufactures and found a custom router bit for handles is over $300.00.
I only invested in the shaper because I manufacture (very small time) hive boxes. 
Message if you have more questions.
BTKS


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

*Deciding to build my hives*

I haven't seen a honeybee on my property for two years now, and being a man of action, I decided I needed to do my part and help the bees. After looking at the price of boxes from apiary supply houses, I decided to build my own hives. I'd like to have a top-bar hive, but the gentleman who is selling the bees to me urged me to use a traditional Langstroth hive because his bees have lived in vertical boxes for hundreds of generations and they might not understand what to do in a top-bar and may just fly away. In addition, since I'm in central Michigan, they seem to have an easier time keeping a vertical hive at survival temperatures than a horizontal hive like a top-bar.

Off to the internet to google some plan ideas and get the dimensions and returned to the shop with a printout from page 10 of Beekeeping Basics, a free e book . These diagrams are the best dimensions and easiest to read that I could find, however it was difficult to see that the width of the boxes was an INSIDE dimension not outside, so I ended up with a 9 frame box. I'm buying the frames to go in them, so I didn't make those, but the boxes, bottom board, stand, and roof were made with the box joint jig and almost all scrap pine pieces. I did have to buy one 1×12 for the deep hive body box. I'll be building a few more boxes later this summer as the hive (hopefully) grows in population.

When I picked up the bees a couple days ago, I bought an off the shelf standard box so I could more accurately copy the dimensions. He was selling some nice boxes for $16.95 each unpainted.

The bodies are simply a four sided box with a rabbet on two ends for the frames to rest on. The bottom board is built into the short stand and has a slide out bottom (for inspecting their trash and cleaning purposes) and it has a place for a screen above the slide out. In the hottest days of summer, I can remove the board and just leave the screened bottom open to keep them cool. The screen I'll be putting on the bottom board is 1/8" hardware cloth which I was NOT able to find anywhere locally, so I bought a small roll on Amazon that was the right size.

The entrance cleat is a nifty little device, simply ¾" square rod that fits in the opening. During busy times, it can be removed, but in winter it can be rotated to reveal a smaller opening. This smaller opening is easier for them to defend if the hive is getting robbed by other bees.

The roof is heavily painted 1/2'' plywood with a 2" overhang all around. The joint is glued and caulked, but I also covered it with a sheet of aluminum to help shed snow and make it impermeable to the elements.

Since I wanted to install them in an out of the way spot, I needed to build a platform to stand on a hillside to keep the hive off the ground and make it level. Luckily, when my daughter and her husband tore down their deck, I made off with a lot of scrap decking and old 4×4 posts. I decided to just place the feet on these round concrete pads instead of burying them or setting them in post cement because I'd like to be able to move the platform if necessary and there was water and rock about a foot into the first hole I tried to dig.










I'm picking up the bees tomorrow evening and will give an update after I get them settled in. Barring any disaster that is.


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## EPJartisan (Nov 4, 2009)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Deciding to build my hives*
> 
> I haven't seen a honeybee on my property for two years now, and being a man of action, I decided I needed to do my part and help the bees. After looking at the price of boxes from apiary supply houses, I decided to build my own hives. I'd like to have a top-bar hive, but the gentleman who is selling the bees to me urged me to use a traditional Langstroth hive because his bees have lived in vertical boxes for hundreds of generations and they might not understand what to do in a top-bar and may just fly away. In addition, since I'm in central Michigan, they seem to have an easier time keeping a vertical hive at survival temperatures than a horizontal hive like a top-bar.
> 
> ...


Awesome!!.. I am very interested in raising bees when I "retire"... though I do not know what "retire" will mean for me… anyway, someday I want to have my own Apiary and make honey mead. Here's hoping good luck to ya!!


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

*Happy Bees*

The gentleman I was buying the bees from lives about an hour and a half away from here, and they were having severe thunderstorms the evening I was picking them up, so I thought I'd have to wait, but the storms were over quickly and I was able to pick them up. They were very agitated however and stung him several times while transferring the frames into my box. All the way home, they were buzzing with great irritation about the trip. One of the tips I read said you can tell how they're feeling by the buzz. When you open the hive, a nice low hum is great, but if the volume and pitch picks up, you better back off.

I set them in place when I got home, but left the entrance closed off with a temporary cleat I cut and drilled for ventilation. I wanted them to relax before going anywhere. I set out a pan of sugar syrup and opened it up shortly after sunrise and they were happy from the start. They wasted no time in starting to build come and forage. Within a couple hours, there were workers coming back to the hive with their leg pouches full of pollen.

I installed the four additional frames with foundation (he gave me five full frames with the bees on them) after borrowing a smoker from my neighbor and protecting myself with a tyvek jump suit and leather gloves. I was surprised that they really didn't seem to care about me at the time as they were busy doing their thing. I did have one of them bump of my face (covered with a mosquito net) but I think he was just trying to go somewhere, not being aggressive.

I ordered a fancy stainless steel smoker and a bee jacket online this morning and will check on them later in the week to make sure they're building brood comb. I also made a new inner cover that has a hole for a mason jar feeder. Right now I'm feeding them with a pie pan of sugar syrup (1:1 water:sugar) with some rocks and wood chips in it to prevent them from drowning.

Here's a short video of the first day they were open and active (6-12-2014).
http://s1145.photobucket.com/user/rosendaul/media/MattsHiveProduced_zps62e2a452.mp4.html

http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf


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## HerbC (Jul 28, 2010)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Happy Bees*
> 
> The gentleman I was buying the bees from lives about an hour and a half away from here, and they were having severe thunderstorms the evening I was picking them up, so I thought I'd have to wait, but the storms were over quickly and I was able to pick them up. They were very agitated however and stung him several times while transferring the frames into my box. All the way home, they were buzzing with great irritation about the trip. One of the tips I read said you can tell how they're feeling by the buzz. When you open the hive, a nice low hum is great, but if the volume and pitch picks up, you better back off.
> 
> ...


Thought you'd like to see this photo…


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Happy Bees*
> 
> The gentleman I was buying the bees from lives about an hour and a half away from here, and they were having severe thunderstorms the evening I was picking them up, so I thought I'd have to wait, but the storms were over quickly and I was able to pick them up. They were very agitated however and stung him several times while transferring the frames into my box. All the way home, they were buzzing with great irritation about the trip. One of the tips I read said you can tell how they're feeling by the buzz. When you open the hive, a nice low hum is great, but if the volume and pitch picks up, you better back off.
> 
> ...


Fantastic!


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## twokidsnosleep (Apr 5, 2010)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Happy Bees*
> 
> The gentleman I was buying the bees from lives about an hour and a half away from here, and they were having severe thunderstorms the evening I was picking them up, so I thought I'd have to wait, but the storms were over quickly and I was able to pick them up. They were very agitated however and stung him several times while transferring the frames into my box. All the way home, they were buzzing with great irritation about the trip. One of the tips I read said you can tell how they're feeling by the buzz. When you open the hive, a nice low hum is great, but if the volume and pitch picks up, you better back off.
> 
> ...


I have sponsored a hive this summer in my yard. I don't maintain it but get to watch and learn
Like to do what you are doing making the hive and doing it all
God I hope I don't kill them!


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Happy Bees*
> 
> The gentleman I was buying the bees from lives about an hour and a half away from here, and they were having severe thunderstorms the evening I was picking them up, so I thought I'd have to wait, but the storms were over quickly and I was able to pick them up. They were very agitated however and stung him several times while transferring the frames into my box. All the way home, they were buzzing with great irritation about the trip. One of the tips I read said you can tell how they're feeling by the buzz. When you open the hive, a nice low hum is great, but if the volume and pitch picks up, you better back off.
> 
> ...


I certainly hope I don't kill mine too. This first year is a little tenuous. I met the wife of a keeper at the farmer's market who said he didn't lose any hives this winter and would be willing to help me out. I'll be calling him soon to help me do an inspection and make sure we're off to a good start.


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

*Second deep body built, help on the way*

Wednesday will be one week since I brought home the bees, and its probably time to add the second brood box on top of the first one. The bees are crazy busy and I'm sure they've built up comb on the additional frames in their box. I finished assembling the frames and have the box ready to go.

The bee suit arrived in the mail today. I opted for just a jacket with an attached veil. Doesn't look very sting proof, but it's really baggy, so should be alright.

I met a guy at the local farm market who said he'd be happy to come out and help me open it up and see what's going on when I add my next box. He's been keeping bees for 18 years and didn't lose ANY bees over this past winter, so here's a guy I can learn from. I wanted an experienced person to help me inspect them this first time to make sure they're off to a good start and doing what they're supposed to do. He's coming Thursday afternoon. My next entry will have a progress update and perhaps some pictures.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Second deep body built, help on the way*
> 
> Wednesday will be one week since I brought home the bees, and its probably time to add the second brood box on top of the first one. The bees are crazy busy and I'm sure they've built up comb on the additional frames in their box. I finished assembling the frames and have the box ready to go.
> 
> ...


I have friends that have bee hives. They say they have yet to be stung. They do their jobs, and you do yours by harvesting their fine honey. Good luck with them. Wifee and I have talked of doing the same thing. Maybe some day, just not now. Too much going on. We all need to "bee" aware of this: No Bees means NO crops of produce.


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Second deep body built, help on the way*
> 
> Wednesday will be one week since I brought home the bees, and its probably time to add the second brood box on top of the first one. The bees are crazy busy and I'm sure they've built up comb on the additional frames in their box. I finished assembling the frames and have the box ready to go.
> 
> ...


My goal is to end up with three hives by splitting this one next spring into two more colonies. Since these are "survivor" bees I should be in good shape for the winter. They have good genes from having survived through Michigan winters. Who knows, if it goes really well, I'll get more colonies and place boxes on other property besides our yard.


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

*Bees are doing great*

I met a guy at the local farmers market who's been keeping bees for 20 years and he happily agreed to come over and do a hive inspection with me to make sure everything is going right with the bees. He gave me some good pointers and said my bees are in great shape and ready to explode with new population. We added another deep body hive box and a feeder box on top. They're eating up 2-3 cups of sugar syrup per day right now, and when the new brood starts to hatch, they'll be eating a quart a day.

I need to get busy making a couple more boxes. I also need to adjust my telescoping cover lid because it fits a little too tight. If I can't sand it down to fit better, I may cut a notch in it to make it easier to pry off.


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## freddy1962 (Feb 27, 2014)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Bees are doing great*
> 
> I met a guy at the local farmers market who's been keeping bees for 20 years and he happily agreed to come over and do a hive inspection with me to make sure everything is going right with the bees. He gave me some good pointers and said my bees are in great shape and ready to explode with new population. We added another deep body hive box and a feeder box on top. They're eating up 2-3 cups of sugar syrup per day right now, and when the new brood starts to hatch, they'll be eating a quart a day.
> 
> I need to get busy making a couple more boxes. I also need to adjust my telescoping cover lid because it fits a little too tight. If I can't sand it down to fit better, I may cut a notch in it to make it easier to pry off.


Enjoy your posts. Please keep them up. I've been thinking of getting into beekeeping for many years.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Bees are doing great*
> 
> I met a guy at the local farmers market who's been keeping bees for 20 years and he happily agreed to come over and do a hive inspection with me to make sure everything is going right with the bees. He gave me some good pointers and said my bees are in great shape and ready to explode with new population. We added another deep body hive box and a feeder box on top. They're eating up 2-3 cups of sugar syrup per day right now, and when the new brood starts to hatch, they'll be eating a quart a day.
> 
> I need to get busy making a couple more boxes. I also need to adjust my telescoping cover lid because it fits a little too tight. If I can't sand it down to fit better, I may cut a notch in it to make it easier to pry off.


Gr8 stuff Matt. Bee's are best


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## ronniebo (Feb 7, 2011)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Bees are doing great*
> 
> I met a guy at the local farmers market who's been keeping bees for 20 years and he happily agreed to come over and do a hive inspection with me to make sure everything is going right with the bees. He gave me some good pointers and said my bees are in great shape and ready to explode with new population. We added another deep body hive box and a feeder box on top. They're eating up 2-3 cups of sugar syrup per day right now, and when the new brood starts to hatch, they'll be eating a quart a day.
> 
> I need to get busy making a couple more boxes. I also need to adjust my telescoping cover lid because it fits a little too tight. If I can't sand it down to fit better, I may cut a notch in it to make it easier to pry off.


Matt,
Great to see someone else into bees.
BUT--why are you feeding the bees so much at the beginning of spring?


> ?
> Why not just get them into foraging for themselves and the honey will taste even sweeter


I got caught up in too many other bits `n pieces this autumn and so have left all the honey on for the winter, and that was even after buying a motorised radial 6 frame reversable extractor for $1000.00 during summer.
I`m sure they won`t mind.
Ron in Hobart Tasmania


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Bees are doing great*
> 
> I met a guy at the local farmers market who's been keeping bees for 20 years and he happily agreed to come over and do a hive inspection with me to make sure everything is going right with the bees. He gave me some good pointers and said my bees are in great shape and ready to explode with new population. We added another deep body hive box and a feeder box on top. They're eating up 2-3 cups of sugar syrup per day right now, and when the new brood starts to hatch, they'll be eating a quart a day.
> 
> I need to get busy making a couple more boxes. I also need to adjust my telescoping cover lid because it fits a little too tight. If I can't sand it down to fit better, I may cut a notch in it to make it easier to pry off.


Feeding for a new colony in our region is absolutely necessary. I started this colony from a five frame nuc just a few weeks ago and they're very weak and have little to no food stores. Feeding sugar syrup encourages them to draw comb which the queen will lay more eggs in to build the colony faster. In addition to encouraging them to build faster, the close food supply also saves them thousands of miles of flying and ensures that they can make it through a rainy cold spell. We just had four days of rain and temps in the 50's. If I hadn't been feeding them, they may have had a starvation problem.

On a totally unrelated note, I just googled "Hobart Tasmania" and after the wikipedia listing, the first result was about a nude winter solstice swim: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-22/hobart27s-winter-solstice-nude-swim-attracts-700/5541734

I looked up your location to actually check the climate, and as I suspected, you are much warmer than us here in Michigan. We really need to have strong colonies going into the fall, or the colony will die off over the winter. Most of the people I've talked to this spring lost 90-100% of their colonies because we had such a long and brutal winter, the coldest in over 100 years. In January, the temperatures were in the single digits (F) the entire month, with night temps of -15 or colder. Your climate looks pretty awesome except those average temps in the summer (December-February) over 100°.


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## ronniebo (Feb 7, 2011)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Bees are doing great*
> 
> I met a guy at the local farmers market who's been keeping bees for 20 years and he happily agreed to come over and do a hive inspection with me to make sure everything is going right with the bees. He gave me some good pointers and said my bees are in great shape and ready to explode with new population. We added another deep body hive box and a feeder box on top. They're eating up 2-3 cups of sugar syrup per day right now, and when the new brood starts to hatch, they'll be eating a quart a day.
> 
> I need to get busy making a couple more boxes. I also need to adjust my telescoping cover lid because it fits a little too tight. If I can't sand it down to fit better, I may cut a notch in it to make it easier to pry off.


Well then Cueball,
Welcome to the weirdo beemob, You are certainly doing it tough and deserve respect for that.
To make you even more envious about where we live you might like to google the Peter Murrell reserve in Blackmans Bay, Hobart.
We live about 2 house blocks to the East of this and so our bees are extremely well fed pretty well all year.
And NO I was not in the mad bunch of nudists in the nude swim because I once earned a few bob as a ccommercial abalone diver here in Tassie and earned my stripes all through winter for up to 6 hours a day in water at 11 Deg C.
Anyhoo, I will send a photo to you of our garden area and hives to better aquaint you with paradise.
Cheers Ron Booth


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Bees are doing great*
> 
> I met a guy at the local farmers market who's been keeping bees for 20 years and he happily agreed to come over and do a hive inspection with me to make sure everything is going right with the bees. He gave me some good pointers and said my bees are in great shape and ready to explode with new population. We added another deep body hive box and a feeder box on top. They're eating up 2-3 cups of sugar syrup per day right now, and when the new brood starts to hatch, they'll be eating a quart a day.
> 
> I need to get busy making a couple more boxes. I also need to adjust my telescoping cover lid because it fits a little too tight. If I can't sand it down to fit better, I may cut a notch in it to make it easier to pry off.


Ron, Very cool place to be. I never realized that Taz was an island until I googled it for your location. Post a pic of your garden area in your workshop pics (of which you have none currently).

The bees are doing great and growing fast. I just saw them fight off a wasp tonight. One of my bees was on his back the second he lit at the entrance, got a good sting and bite and sent him over the edge. He was floundering on the ground when he met the business end of my walking stick.


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## ronniebo (Feb 7, 2011)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Bees are doing great*
> 
> I met a guy at the local farmers market who's been keeping bees for 20 years and he happily agreed to come over and do a hive inspection with me to make sure everything is going right with the bees. He gave me some good pointers and said my bees are in great shape and ready to explode with new population. We added another deep body hive box and a feeder box on top. They're eating up 2-3 cups of sugar syrup per day right now, and when the new brood starts to hatch, they'll be eating a quart a day.
> 
> I need to get busy making a couple more boxes. I also need to adjust my telescoping cover lid because it fits a little too tight. If I can't sand it down to fit better, I may cut a notch in it to make it easier to pry off.


Morning Matt,
I`m pleased you checked out our abode.
I`m having some difficulty loading fotos onto Lumberjocks because I`m a computer CRETIN.
Have you an email addre4ss that I can send stuff to.
Sunny Cheers
Ron B(ee)


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Bees are doing great*
> 
> I met a guy at the local farmers market who's been keeping bees for 20 years and he happily agreed to come over and do a hive inspection with me to make sure everything is going right with the bees. He gave me some good pointers and said my bees are in great shape and ready to explode with new population. We added another deep body hive box and a feeder box on top. They're eating up 2-3 cups of sugar syrup per day right now, and when the new brood starts to hatch, they'll be eating a quart a day.
> 
> I need to get busy making a couple more boxes. I also need to adjust my telescoping cover lid because it fits a little too tight. If I can't sand it down to fit better, I may cut a notch in it to make it easier to pry off.


Ron, best email address for me is [email protected]

Look forward to hearing from you.


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

*Notes on Feeding*

In case someone is following here, but not on the comments section: Another LJ from Australia made the following comment about feeding. My reply is below:

Matt,
Great to see someone else into bees.
BUT--why are you feeding the bees so much at the beginning of spring?


> ?
> Why not just get them into foraging for themselves and the honey will taste even sweeter


I got caught up in too many other bits `n pieces this autumn and so have left all the honey on for the winter, and that was even after buying a motorised radial 6 frame reversable extractor for $1000.00 during summer.
I`m sure they won`t mind.
Ron in Hobart Tasmania

My Reply:
Feeding for a new colony in our region is absolutely necessary. I started this colony from a five frame nuc just a few weeks ago and they're very weak and have little to no food stores. Feeding sugar syrup encourages them to draw comb which the queen will lay more eggs in to build the colony faster. In addition to encouraging them to build faster, the close food supply also saves them thousands of miles of flying and ensures that they can make it through a rainy cold spell. We just had four days of rain and temps in the 50's. If I hadn't been feeding them, they may have had a starvation problem. The hive top feeder even allows them to feed at night and when it's raining, when they can't go out and forage. Even after the colony gets built up and starts storing honey for the winter, they won't be able to make enough for me to harvest this year. The goal is to build the colony now, survive the winter, if population allows then I'll split them in the spring into another one or two colonies, and THEN harvest honey next year.

On a totally unrelated note, I just googled "Hobart Tasmania" and after the wikipedia listing, the first result was about a nude winter solstice swim: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-22/hobart27s-winter-solstice-nude-swim-attracts-700/5541734 Looks like that's a pretty big deal around there.

I looked up your location to actually check the climate, and as I suspected, you are much warmer than us here in Michigan. We really need to have strong colonies going into the fall, or the colony will die off over the winter. Most of the people I've talked to this spring lost 90-100% of their colonies because we had such a long and brutal winter, the coldest in over 100 years. In January, the temperatures were in the single digits (F) the entire month, with night temps of -15 or colder. Your climate looks pretty awesome except those average temps in the summer (December-February) over 100°.


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## twokidsnosleep (Apr 5, 2010)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Notes on Feeding*
> 
> In case someone is following here, but not on the comments section: Another LJ from Australia made the following comment about feeding. My reply is below:
> 
> ...


I am enjoying your posts immensely and following along, not much to add as only starting out sponsoring a hive
Keep it up


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Notes on Feeding*
> 
> In case someone is following here, but not on the comments section: Another LJ from Australia made the following comment about feeding. My reply is below:
> 
> ...


Some serious bee information going on right here. Thnx Matt.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Notes on Feeding*
> 
> In case someone is following here, but not on the comments section: Another LJ from Australia made the following comment about feeding. My reply is below:
> 
> ...


I bought 2 - 3 lb packages of bees and got delivery in April. I put one package at my house and the other at my son's house about 5 or 6 miles away. There are differences. Queens are different. Pollen is different etc. HE fed his package all the 1:1 sugar water syrup they wanted. I cut mine off about 3 weeks ago. His have draw a full brood box or comb (9 5/8" Langstroth hive). Mine are about 3 frames behind his. Our spring has been hot and cold. Not at all normal. I am not sure mine will make the winter and it is 4 months away. I think you need to keep feeding. Sugar water is supposed to be the mac and cheese of bee food. They like steak and potatoes (pollen).


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Notes on Feeding*
> 
> In case someone is following here, but not on the comments section: Another LJ from Australia made the following comment about feeding. My reply is below:
> 
> ...


I'm going to have to make a larger top feeder this weekend. The population explosion has started. When my mentor made the inspection with me, he said it was imminent that I was going to start hatching 2000 bees a day pretty soon. I think I'm still a week or two away from really taking off, but I had to open the entrance all the way (no reducer cleat) and I'm pouring half a quart of syrup per day for a healthy growing colony.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Notes on Feeding*
> 
> In case someone is following here, but not on the comments section: Another LJ from Australia made the following comment about feeding. My reply is below:
> 
> ...


They say a queen can lay up to 2000 eggs per day so if you have a good queen you just might have 200 thousand per day hatching out. I don't think my queen is doing that. She is young and I just got her but she comes with no guarantees. I am using a Boardman entrance feeder with a quart jar on it. I have one hive (captured feral hive) that is on a feeder that we remove a couple of frames to install the tank. I am not sure I like it as well but I am told it is better. I want to get or make some of those that sit in an empty super with 2 tanks and the floating grating. I am hoping for the 2000 per day population explosion.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Notes on Feeding*
> 
> In case someone is following here, but not on the comments section: Another LJ from Australia made the following comment about feeding. My reply is below:
> 
> ...


How are the bees going? I see I made a mistake in the entry above. Sorry. I meant 2,000 hatching per day. Wrote it too late at night I think. I have just started beekeeping this year. SO much to learn. I keep telling people I have to get them through the next winter then it should get easier.


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Notes on Feeding*
> 
> In case someone is following here, but not on the comments section: Another LJ from Australia made the following comment about feeding. My reply is below:
> 
> ...


Mine are exploding now. They're eating a quart of syrup per day right now, and in sunny mid-day the entrance is a pretty crowded spot. They're able to fight off intruders very well. I watched a wasp land at the entrance and it was instantly attacked.

I'm going to make a different feeder for them. The top feeder in an empty super box is just one small mason jar. I'm using that and an open pie pan of syrup until I can build a super-super feeder.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Notes on Feeding*
> 
> In case someone is following here, but not on the comments section: Another LJ from Australia made the following comment about feeding. My reply is below:
> 
> ...


I have a purchased tank that I use in one hive. It takes the place of 2 frames inside the brood box. It holds about 2 quarts or maybe a bit more. I modified it to keep the bees from drowning. I think they only cost $3 or $4 but this one was given to me. I washed it out and put a top on it then a ladder fashioned out of #8 hardware cloth. When we opened the brood box last Monday they were coming out of that tank like crazy. I hope they continue. They are a weak hive. We also took a good looking frame of brood and honey from a strong hive and gave it to them. Maybe that will help them. Brood and drawn comb is always a plus. My bees are all taking a quart+ of syrup daily. The pollen has really slowed here but we got a rain a few days ago and that should help some. Great talking to you. Not many people want to sit and listen to me talk about the most phenomenal creature in the world. Actually I think all creatures have many of these attributes but we overlook them until we study the animal.


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Notes on Feeding*
> 
> In case someone is following here, but not on the comments section: Another LJ from Australia made the following comment about feeding. My reply is below:
> 
> ...


I'm fascinated by them too. I squat down by the hive and watch them all the time. Mine will run out of syrup this weekend while we're camping, but we've had a lot of rain too, and our wildflower meadows are in full bloom right now, so they'll still be happy.

Here's a video from our back meadow last year:


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

*A video of our wildflower meadows last year, playground for the bees*

I'm getting ready to shoot a new video this year with a full garden tour, but I wanted to share this video with the guys following the bee projects I've started. This was the back meadow last year, and it looks even more amazing this year. My honeybees are working it so hard that the whole meadow buzzes and you can hear it from the porch now.


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## freddy1962 (Feb 27, 2014)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *A video of our wildflower meadows last year, playground for the bees*
> 
> I'm getting ready to shoot a new video this year with a full garden tour, but I wanted to share this video with the guys following the bee projects I've started. This was the back meadow last year, and it looks even more amazing this year. My honeybees are working it so hard that the whole meadow buzzes and you can hear it from the porch now.


Nice video matt. I've cleared areas within my timber for clover. Maybe the wildflower thing will work there. I don't have any "open" land as yours.


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *A video of our wildflower meadows last year, playground for the bees*
> 
> I'm getting ready to shoot a new video this year with a full garden tour, but I wanted to share this video with the guys following the bee projects I've started. This was the back meadow last year, and it looks even more amazing this year. My honeybees are working it so hard that the whole meadow buzzes and you can hear it from the porch now.


The company I bought my seeds from has a full shade, wildflower mix for the midwest: http://www.americanmeadows.com/wildflower-seeds/midwest/shade-wildflower-seed-collection

The nice thing about these mixtures is that every few weeks, another variety blooms, so starting mid June, all the way to September you have colorful flowers.


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## freddy1962 (Feb 27, 2014)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *A video of our wildflower meadows last year, playground for the bees*
> 
> I'm getting ready to shoot a new video this year with a full garden tour, but I wanted to share this video with the guys following the bee projects I've started. This was the back meadow last year, and it looks even more amazing this year. My honeybees are working it so hard that the whole meadow buzzes and you can hear it from the porch now.


Thanks for the link Matt. I'll have my Wife look at it, she's a plant/flower expert.


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

*Top Feeder *

I took the time to construct a top feeder this weekend. Until now, I was primarily feeding the colony with a pie pan of sugar syrup set beside the hive entrance. They thoroughly enjoyed the setup, but such a practice is bad for many reasons. It attracts ants, wasps, yellowjackets, and other honey bees who rob the food. It may also do the worst and attract a raccoon or skunk which might try to topple the hive or break into the top. It is also prone to wind, rain, and evaporation, not to mention that the bees won't feed on it at night.









My inner cover has a hole in it to allow access to the attic area of the hive, so I built this little platform to hold jars above that inner cover. The bees can climb up through the hole and stand below this little platform to access the holes in the jar lids. The platform leg cleats are tall enough to allow 3/8" clearance for the bees under the big jars which rest with their glass necks on the wood. The two smaller 1 qt jars sit slightly higher and rest on the rim of their lids. For those jars, I poked the holes closer to the edge so the bees can hang on the wood lip and get the syrup. 


















The two big jars are about 1/2 gallon and are maraschino cherry jars from my days as a bartender. They're perfect for this application because they're squat enough to fit inside a medium sized honey super. The two other jars are Classico spaghetti sauce jars. Total capacity is about 6 quarts which will last them about 5 days right now. I'm buying sugar in 25lb sacks at Sam's Club. 









You can see two new medium deep honey supers I built over the weekend also in the background. The feeder is in place right now and the bees are still happy and busy. I added a squirt of honey to their syrup this morning to give it a little more authentic flavor.


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## freddy1962 (Feb 27, 2014)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Top Feeder *
> 
> I took the time to construct a top feeder this weekend. Until now, I was primarily feeding the colony with a pie pan of sugar syrup set beside the hive entrance. They thoroughly enjoyed the setup, but such a practice is bad for many reasons. It attracts ants, wasps, yellowjackets, and other honey bees who rob the food. It may also do the worst and attract a raccoon or skunk which might try to topple the hive or break into the top. It is also prone to wind, rain, and evaporation, not to mention that the bees won't feed on it at night.
> 
> ...


Nice job, very interesting to me.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Top Feeder *
> 
> I took the time to construct a top feeder this weekend. Until now, I was primarily feeding the colony with a pie pan of sugar syrup set beside the hive entrance. They thoroughly enjoyed the setup, but such a practice is bad for many reasons. It attracts ants, wasps, yellowjackets, and other honey bees who rob the food. It may also do the worst and attract a raccoon or skunk which might try to topple the hive or break into the top. It is also prone to wind, rain, and evaporation, not to mention that the bees won't feed on it at night.
> 
> ...


Hey Matt. Me wife & I are going to go to a "Bee Keeping 101" class at our local library this Saturday. Really to get some info.


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

*Installed my first honey super*

I just opened up the hive and installed my first honey super on top. These are slightly shorter boxes that the bees store honey in instead of brood (typically). Some people use a queen excluder to keep her from laying brood in the honey super, but I'm not too worried about that at this point.

In searching for information about the timing of honey flows and such, I found a great resource at the site of the Kalamazoo Bee Club, it's a Calendar of Activity for Beekeepers.

I'll post a picture of the hive now with the taller stack of boxes when I get a chance. I didn't take my camera to the hive with me today.


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## Chris208 (Mar 8, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Installed my first honey super*
> 
> I just opened up the hive and installed my first honey super on top. These are slightly shorter boxes that the bees store honey in instead of brood (typically). Some people use a queen excluder to keep her from laying brood in the honey super, but I'm not too worried about that at this point.
> 
> ...


I'm sure this is loosely woodworking related, but maybe you should find a nice bee keeping forum somewhere.

Not really appropriate here.


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Installed my first honey super*
> 
> I just opened up the hive and installed my first honey super on top. These are slightly shorter boxes that the bees store honey in instead of brood (typically). Some people use a queen excluder to keep her from laying brood in the honey super, but I'm not too worried about that at this point.
> 
> ...


From the LJ Help page about blogs:

Blogs - Journaling your woodworking journey, whether that is a project in process, some inspirations, challenges or days of frustrations. Read some of the other blogs to get a feel for the content. *Pretty much anything goes.*

If you're not interested in my journey, please disregard my entries.


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## BTKS (Nov 30, 2008)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Installed my first honey super*
> 
> I just opened up the hive and installed my first honey super on top. These are slightly shorter boxes that the bees store honey in instead of brood (typically). Some people use a queen excluder to keep her from laying brood in the honey super, but I'm not too worried about that at this point.
> 
> ...


Nicely stated Cueball.


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## twokidsnosleep (Apr 5, 2010)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Installed my first honey super*
> 
> I just opened up the hive and installed my first honey super on top. These are slightly shorter boxes that the bees store honey in instead of brood (typically). Some people use a queen excluder to keep her from laying brood in the honey super, but I'm not too worried about that at this point.
> 
> ...


Why the hell read something you are not interested in and B about it; Man people suck.
Keep posting away, you handled that more politely than I would have. Back to the bees please!
We had a second box added this past weekend and are hoping for a boom of bees to hatch out over the next two weeks so can get a honey super on. This second queen from Kona ,Hawaii is doing well.


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## Chris208 (Mar 8, 2012)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Installed my first honey super*
> 
> I just opened up the hive and installed my first honey super on top. These are slightly shorter boxes that the bees store honey in instead of brood (typically). Some people use a queen excluder to keep her from laying brood in the honey super, but I'm not too worried about that at this point.
> 
> ...


I read it because I like woodworking, and I thought his post might be about woodworking, but their is nothing even related to woodworking in the post.

I was polite, and made a suggestion that he might have higher readership at a site dedicated to the hobby of beekeeping, rather than woodworking.

Like you all said if you don't like what I've written, don't read it.

Everyone have a nice evening.


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## CueballRosendaul (Jul 16, 2012)

*Recent Pictures, box and feeder*

I thought I'd add a few more pictures to the blog tonight.

First, a picture of my first temporary feeding method, the pie pan of syrup. You can see that there are a couple wasps hanging around. The sticks are so the bees don't drown and it gives them a place to easily hang on while drinking the syrup. Since this is a 1:1 mix of sugar and water, they supposedly don't store it, but just consume it and use it as fuel to build wax comb.










Also a picture of my new top feeder installed with a medium box around it.










Here's the full stack of boxes now with two deep supers for the brood and a new medium for honey storage. The second medium on top obviously holds the feeder. I had to add the medium box because the bottom boxes are now all full except the two outside frame sides.










Happy Bees!










The south meadow which is right out their front door.


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## freddy1962 (Feb 27, 2014)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Recent Pictures, box and feeder*
> 
> I thought I'd add a few more pictures to the blog tonight.
> 
> ...


Nice!


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Recent Pictures, box and feeder*
> 
> I thought I'd add a few more pictures to the blog tonight.
> 
> ...


Looks like a gr8 setup. Tell em to bring on that honey..


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## BTKS (Nov 30, 2008)

CueballRosendaul said:


> *Recent Pictures, box and feeder*
> 
> I thought I'd add a few more pictures to the blog tonight.
> 
> ...


Even if the sugar is 1:1 they do store the syrup and dilute possible honey in the super.
If that diluted honey is harvested, it has a high potential for fermenting in the bottle. 
Two rules I follow religiously:
One, no honey supers on if there is a feeder on! I don't even allow honey supers on if there is a feeder out in the open, or community feeder.
Two, NO medication before or during use of a honey super. The only med I use is for Nosema and it is only given during a high stress event, like package setting. Most of the time, I don't use it then.

I guess the point I'm really trying to make is don't mess up what mother nature and the bees have gone to so much trouble to get right.

Best of luck with the ladies, 
BTKS


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