Sugar dusting sieve

[Ravenseye]

Someone elsewhere on the forum was lamenting over what to do while waiting for spring. Here's one of my sugar dusters that I use for IPM. I started sugar dusting by just dumping confectioners sugar on the frames and brushing it in. Then, I tried one of those hand crank flour sifters. Last year, I made one of these frames and it works great. It's built for 10 frame boxes and it's built slightly big so that it fits well on slightly over-sized or out of square boxes. It's made from pine scraps. I ripped the outer edges to whatever width I liked and ripped the inner rails to any old size that works. The window screen is metal (I used nylon last year and it didn't hold up) and it's just stapled in place. Obviously, you can use this sieve either side up.

What I do is to pull the hive apart down to the last box. Drop this on top, dump about a 3/4 cup or so of sugar in and swipe the sugar around with a 4" paint brush. Put the next box back on and repeat. I'm done in no time.

Here's the finished product:
http://www.ravenseye.net/sifter1.jpg

Here, I just tacked the rails in to hold the screen:
http://www.ravenseye.net/sifter2.jpg

Doesn't take much to staple the screen in place. The screen is cut right there in the box with a sharp knife:
http://ravenseye.net/sifter3.jpg

And, it just drops right on a box leaving enough room to comfortably fit and also expose all the frames and spaces:
http://ravenseye.net/sifter4.jpg

[KQ6AR]

That's a good looking screen. You even mitered the corners.

[Ravenseye]

Sorry. Just put the missing pics back on.