Combined clearer board/travel screen

[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. He cuts them in half, and and ends up with a clearer board that works like Murray's.

Kitta