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I've been feeding the big swarm I caught and placed in a TBH ever since I caught them several weeks ago. They've been going through feed like it was beer at a frat party. All of a sudden, I get a...

I had a peek inside the day after placing them in the nuc and they looked VERY crowded as well as already building a lot of comb. I thought I'd have a week or two to build a proper hive for them. I...

DiverDog: Yes, I did make it - http://rusticelementbees.com/. I don't have plans, I work out of my head, sorry. My daughter is coming to visit for the summer next week. She's a structural engineering...

Leaving them in the swarm bucket just wasn't suitable so I built a quick top bar nuc.
Video

You can see the screened vent holes along the top on both sides. There is a 4" screened vent hole in...

terri lynn: The bucket was duct taped to the pole saw. The saw has a shear built in, which is operated by pulling on the rope. The problem I had was getting the mouth of the shear around the branch...

This swarm catch went well. They were about 20 feet up so I rented a 14' ladder from HD and borrowed a pole saw from the neighbor. The only problem was the weight of the bees on such a small branch....

Yes, perfectly level. An H3 using open frames has to be level both directions.

The problem isn't level related. The combs are built nicely vertical, just upside down and at a horizontal angle, not...

I know people tend to build from the bottom up. But I thought bees always built from the top down?!?
http://i671.photobucket.com/albums/vv80/vestudio/CIMG1330.jpg

I'm doing an H3 hive with open...

I use http://merchantanywhere.com/. I have an old PDA that I plug their printer/reader into and it goes over the cell phone system. If I'm at home and I don't have my PDA/printer ready I do it over...

A U-Haul trailer is ~$20/day. For the number of times you need it and the hassle of anything else, I think that's worth it.

With no jig, a staple gun and pre-wired foundations I average 3 min. each.

I have several hundred to do in a few weeks so guess I'm going to have to build a jig. That should speed things up even...

I'm not sure what size you use but HD has 3/4" for not too bad. A plumbing supply place would have 1" for not too much more. Over that starts getting pricy though.

But as iwombat says...
...

Why wouldn't you use a brass ball valve instead of a gate valve? It's not that much more expensive, and hassle free for the rest of your life (those things last forever!).

http://www.hardwareandtools.com/invt/6100804
Or for larger rolls - http://www.twpinc.com/twpinc/control/product/~category=TWPCAT_4/~product_id=008X008G0130W36T

Thankyou Michael for the clear response. Much appreciated. Yes, I meant open frames so I guess the question really belongs in a different forum. Oh well, always learning.:D

Well, at this point, my brother in law's reply would be: "Ya know, now that I think about it, you're absolutely right."

Next subject...

I can't give you an answer on this one. I think these beetles are more of a southern problem (no?) so I haven't heard much talk of them around here.


:applause::applause::applause:
As I answered...

Unless bees have come up with some kind of super insulation, it comes down to basic thermodynamics: If you're producing heat, you're losing heat. How much heat is lost depends directly upon the...

It's already in the planning stages. Interior temps, humidity levels, production levels, pest counts, the works! I plan on doing a full study over the next year.

If any on here are within a half...

The increased insulation is minimal. The increased warmth is mainly accomplished by the 2 colonies sharing a common wall, and thereby sharing "body heat". It's like being in bed. If you're alone you...

In my opinion, from the point of view of someone who has had to replace many a rotted trim on many a house, Definitely! The water between two tightly spaced pieces of wood takes forever to dry. Wet...

It appears from these interior pictures that the hives are worked from the back instead of from the top. Is this correct?

As far as the bees are concerned, it is my understanding that during a really cold winter it is not uncommon for whole colonies to starve to death with plenty of stores right beside them, simply...

This should help http://www.bushfarms.com/beeseightframemedium.htm

For wisbigcheese's tree swarm...
How big is the branch? I'm no expert but if the branch is small enough I would:
1-use a bow and arrow to get a string then rope over the branch
2-let the rope hang...