[JConnolly]

I got tired of watching my city burn on TV so I headed out to the shop. I've been wanting to try a cloake board and give it a try for some queen rearing instead of a cell starter nuc. So I decided to go ahead and build a cloake board. I made a masonite divider for it. It runs in a groove. When it is closed the thumb hole is over the porch board and blocked. The plan is to set it on top of a queen excluder. What did I miss? A cloake board is new ground for me. Hopefully I can put it on tomorrow morning. Even though it has plenty of clearance, I am a little worried about the masonite insert getting stuck.

 

[little_john]

FWIW - the slide doesn't necessarily have to slide within a groove - it can rest on the board surround thusly:

Provided the surround is wide enough to provide a reasonable contact area, this works fine.

But - seeing how you've already made one with a slot - suggest you wipe some Vaseline along the groove to ensure it doesn't get propolised. Should work ok.

Sorry to hear about the riots.
LJ

 

[fatshark]

Looks good. Not sure what masonite is - it looks like a sort of wood particle board. If so it might absorb moisture though it's not in the hive for long. As an alternative you can use Correx - the fluted plastic boards they use for signs (which is here I get mine from ).

 

[little_john]

Looks good. Not sure what masonite is - it looks like a sort of wood particle board.

It is - it's what we call 'hardboard'. LJ

 

[crofter]

I have used quite thick aluminum sheet from a truck cargo body and also aluminum flashing. The flashing needs to have the edges folded back double for about half an inch for stiffness. Hardboard or masonite would do, just need to adjust groove width or let it run on a ledge. A bit of petrolatum jelly keeps the slide from becoming stuck.

I use my taper shims to provide an entrance 3/8 by about 18" long. I cut a slot or drill a hole in the rear of the bottom board so I dont have to rotate hive body. Once I block normal front lower entrance the bees move up to the entrance above the board provided by the taper shims. I follow the Sue Cobey method

 

[JConnolly]

I like the idea of using a shin to create the lower entrance. The hive I’m using had a slotted bottom board so adding a shim isn’t going to increase the under comb distance

 

[crofter]

I like the idea of using a shin to create the lower entrance. The hive I’m using had a slotted bottom board so adding a shim isn’t going to increase the under comb distance

In my case the pair of shims created the upper entrance. When I blocked the bottom entrance that forced many of the bottom bees up to crowd the cell starter. Queen was below, but I suppose it would not matter which way you went with that. Just more convenient to have the cells in upper box.

Edit: I see now that you were probably thinking of the creation of a rear entrance for the bottom box. I cut a notch in the rear of bottom board but a pair of strips would have done the same. I usually have a number of them kicking around the hives.