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Author Topic: Added IPK now massive bearding  (Read 2345 times)

Offline ChrisT

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Added IPK now massive bearding
« on: July 16, 2013, 08:18:03 pm »
Hi all,

I added a slide out oil tray (greenbeehives) to my hive bc my SHB were so bad.
This thing works awesome but now i have what i call massive bearding when they all come home.
Before i installed the oil tray, i had a screened bottom board and didnt have anywhere near this kind of bearding.

The oil tray is killing alot of SHB so I dont want to take it away but I need some way to alleviate this new problem.
I assume its no coincidence that this didnt start until i added the oil tray so I have to assume they are hot now or they dont like that the oil tray is there or something else? Can anyone calm my nerves and tell me that its most likely from adding the oil tray (basicaly like having a solid bottom board)?

I have the top cover propped open but I dont know what else i can do get them cooler again to go back inside. I know bearding is normal but if they were inside the hive when i had a screened bottom board, how can i cool this hive off now? OR is that they really hate that the oil tray is there?


Thanks
Chris

Offline Wolfer

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Re: Added IPK now massive bearding
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2013, 08:27:36 pm »
I have them on all my hives. I use vegetable oil and my bees don't seem to mind. I may have a little bearding if it's really hot.
If everyone used these SHB could become endangered. I haven't see a live one this year.

Offline ChrisT

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Re: Added IPK now massive bearding
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2013, 08:33:55 pm »
Thanks Wolfer
So at least i know its not the oil tray they are protesting against.

I included a pic. Its probobly not massive to alot of people but this a dusk pic. By nighttime they will cover the bottom 2 mediums..
I just didnt have this before i added the oil tray. they would all go in at night.



Offline iddee

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Re: Added IPK now massive bearding
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2013, 09:00:50 pm »
Did you say new "PROBLEM"?

This is the way I like to see my hives on a warm summer evening. If I don't, then I feel I may have a problem.



"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

*Shel Silverstein*

Offline ChrisT

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Re: Added IPK now massive bearding
« Reply #4 on: July 16, 2013, 09:18:47 pm »
iddee

Ok but do your also do that at night? if so, ill feel better. Mine dont do this during the day, they are doing their thing.

Im still concerned that they didnt do this before adding this IPK, so is there anything that i can do to add more ventilation back in like before when i had a screened bottom board?


Thanks

Chris


Offline iddee

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Re: Added IPK now massive bearding
« Reply #5 on: July 16, 2013, 10:59:53 pm »
Mine stay out all night, but the size of the cluster varies. You can put popsicle sticks or similar under the inner lid, on the edge of the box, and they can increase ventilation there. If ants are a problem, that problem will get bigger. You can open the front entrance more. You can add another super, if there is a flow still going on, or SHB is no problem. The more empty space in the hive, the worse the SHB become. It's all a balance.

Personally, I like seeing the beard.
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

*Shel Silverstein*

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Added IPK now massive bearding
« Reply #6 on: July 16, 2013, 11:25:16 pm »
Add a screen top board.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline RC

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Re: Added IPK now massive bearding
« Reply #7 on: July 17, 2013, 12:36:09 pm »
Do you use screened tops, Jim? Notice any differences, good or not? Any increase of pests with them?
I've thought about trying a couple, just out of curiosity. I have read that Brushy Mountain claims they will increase production during the summer months.

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Added IPK now massive bearding
« Reply #8 on: July 17, 2013, 12:58:07 pm »
Do you use screened tops, Jim? Notice any differences, good or not? Any increase of pests with them?
I've thought about trying a couple, just out of curiosity. I have read that Brushy Mountain claims they will increase production during the summer months.

I have them on all 18 of my hives. they are great for checking on the hive without opening it up, When I remove the cover, I first check for and kill SHB's and moths. The bearding is greatly reduced which means more of your bees are working in the hive. They help reduce the pests because the SHB's and moths smell the hive by the vents and enter on top of the screen and stay there. They cannot trick the bees into feeding them because of the screen. I often find them dead on top of the screen if I have not checked in them for a while.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline ChrisT

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Re: Added IPK now massive bearding
« Reply #9 on: July 17, 2013, 03:29:52 pm »
Yes, thanks jim,

You were the one i think that inspired me to get this oil tray and helped with the screened top board compnents.. i havent had a chance to get that screened top board made yet...

I would have a question about air flow tho.. if i have this oil tray on the bottom and a screened top board on top, what creates the chimney effect of air that would exit thru the screened top board? is the entrance enough to create the chimney effect?

Thanks

Chris


Offline iddee

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Re: Added IPK now massive bearding
« Reply #10 on: July 17, 2013, 04:52:30 pm »
You DO NOT want a chimney effect. You want the bees to have the ability to fan the air when needed, and keep it calm when no airflow is needed.
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

*Shel Silverstein*

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Added IPK now massive bearding
« Reply #11 on: July 18, 2013, 01:17:25 pm »
Yes, thanks jim,

You were the one i think that inspired me to get this oil tray and helped with the screened top board components.. i havent had a chance to get that screened top board made yet...

I would have a question about air flow tho.. if i have this oil tray on the bottom and a screened top board on top, what creates the chimney effect of air that would exit thru the screened top board? is the entrance enough to create the chimney effect?

Thanks

Chris



Chris,
I cut slots in the sides or the boards above the screen using my table saw. They are 1/8" wide by about 8" long. My oil pans are not as long as the space below the hive, the area under the landing board is open. There is screen under the pan to keep the bees out of it.
My OB hive has basically the same configuration. There is a hole in the center bottom that is connected to the out side, the area where the feeder jar goes with screen over it and there are 4-1" air vents in the top. I never sees bees in the middle of the hive fanning but they will fan at the top and inside the feeder (I rarely feed them here in FL, last year they were feeding in the fields 90% of the year. I cannot see what happens in the entrance  tube. There are right now, thousands or bees bearding outside the OB hive entrance, percentage wise, far more than any of my other hives. the OB is building and filling this hive very fast. Removed 4 capped medium frames last Friday, hoping to keep them from swarming. 3 of them are almost half built already and filled, the other 2 medium frames that we left in because they were not capped are being capped. Hive only has 2 Deep brood frames.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline L Daxon

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Re: Added IPK now massive bearding
« Reply #12 on: July 18, 2013, 11:48:25 pm »
Chris,

The thing I have found that helped the most with bearding where I live in hot and humid Oklahoma is a slatted rack between my screened bottom board and the first brood box.  This little extra bit of space seems to give the girls a place to hang out inside the hive instead of outside, where they can be picked off by birds, critters, etc.

I am a hobbyist keeper and only have 3 colonies so I can afford the extra expense of a slatted rack on each hive.  The first day I put them on my hives the bearding stopped immediately.  With a slatted rack, the queen will also lay right to the very bottom row of cells in the bottom brood box because the rack elevates the bottom box up a bit and away from drafts coming in at the bottom entrance (if you use a bottom entrance). Diminished the threat of chilled brood in the cells closest to the entrance, I guess.

A lot of keepers will say they just an extra gadget you don't need, but I feel like my hives get a positive benefit from them.

Linda D. in OKC
linda d

 

anything