Subject: Clearer boards

From: [email-masked] (Steven Turner)
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 1996 18:46:58 GMT

Hello All,

Any idea how long clearing four supers would take at this time of year?
My management programme might need a tweek as 24 hours doesn't seem long
enough to clear the bees fully.

Your comments here please as my e-mail domain is not registerd yet.

Regards Steve g6lpf

Beenet the computer network for Beekeepers.Email [email-masked]

... Platinum Xpress! It's hot!

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From: Gerry Visel <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 1996 13:03:26 -0700

Who needs clearer boards?  (I have never found one that worked well.)

   With the nice weather we were having, I extracted this weekend and 
found it a joy.  I took three supers off one of my five hives without a 
sting.

  My hives are in our pasture behind the barn.  I take the supers off 
with bees in them and move them about 20 feet to a spot where I set up an 
old (screened inlet) squirrel cage blower fan aimed at the stack.  I 
moved the frames individually to another super beside the stack, first 
shaking off most of the bees, then passing each frame in front of the 
blower, then blowing (by mouth) any few residual bees off.  

   It was great!  The "wind" seemed to disorient the bees, and nobody was 
mad!  

   I took the supers to the picnic table in our back yard, where my 
daughter then opened the combs with a scratching fork, and I spun them in 
my two frame extractor on our back steps.  Ended up with seven gallons 
>from  three supers.

   It did start to get fun near the end.  A couple wondering field bees 
discovered us and went home and alerted the forces...  I left the 
extracted supers out on an inverted cover for them to  recycle the honey 
and clean up.  Talk about a bunch of happy bees!  ("FREE FOOD!!!")  

   I put the honey in square five gallon plastic "jugs" and took it 
inside.  After letting it settle a bit, I poured it through my high-tech 
filtration system, (a new pair of ladies panty hose with one leg inside 
the other!) into a plastic five gallon bucket with a honey gate valve on 
the side at the bottom.  I will bottle directly from there after I let 
the bubbles settle a day or two.

   It was one of those days that makes it all worth it.  I hope you guys 
feel even half as satisfied this year.

Have fun!

Gerry Visel
[email-masked]
(815) 226-6620
(815) 394-5438 or -2827 (fax)