Combined clearer board/travel screen

[Jambo]

Hello

Having had a crack at the heather this year, I've realised it would greatly simplify things if I could make (or if necessary, buy) something which is a travelling screen and clearer board in one.

The idea being one trip to put clearer boards on, then on the next trip one simply lifts off the cleared supers and the clearer board is left in place, door closed up, straps done up and the hive is ready to move with minimal time and bee disturbance.

I assume if the clearer board is made out of mesh (which would be good for a travel screen) it won't work very well as a clearer as warmth and food and queen smells will transfer through it easily.

Maybe some sort of removable inserts with mesh underneath?

Would really welcome any ideas and past experiences to save reinventing the wheel.

Thanks.

[Mellifera Crofter]

After ten years of beekeeping, this year is also my first time of taking bees to the heather - and I still have to figure out how to get the bees and the honey back home.

Your plan is interesting, Jambo. I think you can easily turn a clearer board into a travelling screen of sorts by simply pinning mesh patches over the opening (or openings) after you've removed the supers. Together with a mesh floor, I think that will be sufficient ventilation - particularly this time of the year. But how effective will that be as a one-trip solution? Were your supers completely clear of bees when you lifted them? I mean, no bees flying about?

Kitta

[Adam]

A standard clearer board would do the trick - but perhaps you could cut out a hole in it and fix some mesh across the hole so that the bees get more ventilation. My guess is that with a mesh floor and some ventilation in the clearer board, the bees would be fine. Porter bee escapes work as a one way valve so would be suitable. Sometimes bees are said to find their way out of trapeziodal escapes - but they generally have a mesh bit in the plastic, so as Kitta suggests, a piece of mesh over the hole might be enough once the supers come off?

[greengumbo]

Hello

Having had a crack at the heather this year, I've realised it would greatly simplify things if I could make (or if necessary, buy) something which is a travelling screen and clearer board in one.

The idea being one trip to put clearer boards on, then on the next trip one simply lifts off the cleared supers and the clearer board is left in place, door closed up, straps done up and the hive is ready to move with minimal time and bee disturbance.

I assume if the clearer board is made out of mesh (which would be good for a travel screen) it won't work very well as a clearer as warmth and food and queen smells will transfer through it easily.

Maybe some sort of removable inserts with mesh underneath?

Would really welcome any ideas and past experiences to save reinventing the wheel.

Thanks.

Not sure if the "adapta-eke" from thornes is the sort of thing you might be after ? not sure if it can swap between the clearer and screen in a simple way though. Also it is at a thornes premium bargain price (!!!).

[Mellifera Crofter]

Not sure if the "adapta-eke" from thornes is the sort of thing you might be after ?...

I’ve not noticed this ‘adapta-eke’ before. What a pointless piece of kit! Instead of simply placing a normal clearer board or whatever on an ordinary eke or super, you now have a specially-sized board to fit a very particular eke!

Apart from the lunacy of that idea (not yours, GG!), it won’t solve Jambo’s quest for a one-stop solution to removing honey and moving bees in one go. As soon as the clearer-board insert is lifted to be replaced by a travelling-screen insert the bees will fly out.

Kitta

[Jambo]

Thanks for the ideas folks.

Maybe I am making life hard for myself in the first place by not using normal clearer boards - I have fixed rhombus things to them and whipping them out to replace with mesh isn't a go-er.

Probably the rhombus boards do make good enough traveling screens themselves, especially at this end of the season. The journey to the heather, perhaps not so much...?

I'm not really looking for a one trip solution (though that would be awesome), just trying to reduce the number of manipulations as it all takes time. I also just need to get quicker as GG can confirm ;)

Adapta-eke - baha!

[fatshark]

I think the correct spelling is Adapta-eek! ... ;)

[Mellifera Crofter]

...Maybe I am making life hard for myself in the first place by not using normal clearer boards - I have fixed rhombus things to them and whipping them out to replace with mesh isn't a go-er.

Probably the rhombus boards do make good enough traveling screens themselves, especially at this end of the season. ...

Adapta-eke - baha!

What is a 'normal' clearer board, Jambo? A rhombus one seems pretty normal to me. You don't have to replace the rhombus with a mesh patch. Leave it in place on the hive. It's facing down - so, just pin or tape the mesh patch above it.

I wouldn't trust a rhombus board without a mesh patch as a travelling screen, though. Bees may find their way out.

Adapta-eek! ha ha!

[Jambo]

What is a 'normal' clearer board, Jambo? A rhombus one seems pretty normal to me. You don't have to replace the rhombus with a mesh patch. Leave it in place on the hive. It's facing down - so, just pin or tape the mesh patch above it.

I've always assumed porter bee escapes were the 'normal' method. Only used by amateurs and maniacs though obviously!

I do like the rhombus ones, so is the consensus that in all but the hottest weather adequate ventilation can be achieved with one, especially combined with a mesh floor?

[Mellifera Crofter]

I think that will be a 'yes', Jambo - but I suppose it depends on the time of the year, and the size of the openings in the clearer boards you're using. I took my bees to the heather using a 'normal' clearer board with two porterbee escape holes, covered in mesh, for one colony - and they were fine.

If you like the rhombus ones, have a look at our own Fatshark's (https://theapiarist.org/clearer-boards/). He cuts them in half, and and ends up with a clearer board that works like Murray's (https://aberdeenbeekeepers.net/2017/11/23/murray-mcgregor-my-beekeeping-year-september-november/).

Kitta