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Thread: todays news

  1. #3311

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    Not trying to second guess bee thought processes but this does not happen when there is a flow on or feeding is being done.

    I suspect that although it looks like they are chewing the wax (and indeed are) I suspect the main issue is that they don't like metal and are actually trying to remove it, and the removal of the wax along the wires is just so they can attempt the futile task of wire chewing. If the wire is poorly embedded you often see the wire pattern manifesting itself as a line of gaps in the brood for example. A feed or a decent flow and they will still make a decent comb of that one Kitta.

    A second reason can be that they are utilising the wax elsewhere. They do move it around a bit from time to time, again usually when there is no flow or feed to stimulate wax secretion.

  2. #3312
    Senior Member Kate Atchley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Calluna4u View Post
    Not trying to second guess bee thought processes but this does not happen when there is a flow on or feeding is being done. ... A second reason can be that they are utilising the wax elsewhere. They do move it around a bit from time to time, again usually when there is no flow or feed to stimulate wax secretion.
    Yes, bees try to avoid steel wires but Murray's last suggestion seems to explain most of the wax-moving-chewing I've witnessed.

    I think the bees are using the wax for whatever is most important for the colony at the time and that may mean moving wax from elsewhere if incoming nectar is absent or wax-builders scarce. Fat shark's pic of a well-drawn comb with no side and base connecting wax/foundation suggests this was drawn initially when the flow was poor and, when forage improved, the bees were able to complete the frame and fill it with brood.

  3. #3313
    Administrator gavin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by madasafish
    I see you are using my smoker Gavin :-)
    You can have it back!

    Quote Originally Posted by Kate Atchley View Post
    I put one just like it aside a year ago (and took it out to use this evening 'cos I'd left it where I untied the dog at an out-apiary). When I used it the bees they would invariably go into a frenzy, stinging the leather bellows, sometimes mistaking my hands for the bellows as I held it. Goodness knows what they used to cure the hide.
    Yes, these smokers are awful in every way. That hook on the spout is nearly as weak as aluminium foil and is utterly useless. The hinge for the spout is poor. The bellows on mine also incited a sting-fest so I stripped the stings off with sticky tape then covered the leather in clear sticky tape and now the bees don't react to it.

    Thankfully Thorne no longer sell that one. I'll have a word with Santa about one of those expensive Dadant smokers.

  4. #3314
    Senior Member Kate Atchley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kate Atchley View Post
    ... Fat shark's pic of a well-drawn comb with no side and base connecting wax/foundation suggests this was drawn initially when the flow was poor and, when forage improved, the bees were able to complete the frame and fill it with brood.
    On second thoughts, Fatshark's frame looks as though it's beekeeper-wired, so presumably drawn without foundation, or maybe just a strip. These are drawn downwards in an expanding rounded form and often don't become fully attached to the frame around the sides and base. So maybe no nibbling took place.

  5. #3315
    Senior Member Kate Atchley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gavin View Post
    You can have it back!



    Yes, these smokers are awful in every way. That hook on the spout is nearly as weak as aluminium foil and is utterly useless. The hinge for the spout is poor. The bellows on mine also incited a sting-fest so I stripped the stings off with sticky tape then covered the leather in clear sticky tape and now the bees don't react to it.

    Thankfully Thorne no longer sell that one. I'll have a word with Santa about one of those expensive Dadant smokers.
    It's hard to find smokers without leather bellows now. Ah ... used not to be the case. I'll post Santa to the SS one I recently bought from Thornes ... think it's the one you're leaving space for in your stocking Gavin.

  6. #3316

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    My Dadant smoker has been in use plus 25 years , the bellows are mock leather ( leatherette ) no probs with stinging .
    Nothing's fallen off save one nut holding bellows to canister .


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  7. #3317
    Senior Member fatshark's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gavin View Post
    I'll have a word with Santa about one of those expensive Dadant smokers.
    But be aware that the photo they show on Thorne's website isn't the one they actually supply (or wasn't ... this info is a year out of date). Dadant do one with a heat guard on the back of the box which is what Thorne's show on the site. It's not what was sent (but was a gift so couldn't go back).

    M5014-500x500.jpg20151020-36.jpg

    But it's still an excellent smoker ...

  8. #3318
    Senior Member fatshark's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kate Atchley View Post
    On second thoughts, Fatshark's frame looks as though it's beekeeper-wired, so presumably drawn without foundation, or maybe just a strip. These are drawn downwards in an expanding rounded form and often don't become fully attached to the frame around the sides and base. So maybe no nibbling took place.
    That's exactly what it is Kate ... foundationless, with strong monofilament 'wires'. There's a sort of channel across the frame running horizontally where the lower 'wire' is, almost certainly because the frame wasn't quite vertical and they couldn't incorporate it properly. When they draw these frames out - from a 1cm starter strip - they almost always leave space round the bottom third of the frame as shown.

  9. #3319
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    Quote Originally Posted by gavin View Post
    You can have it back!



    Yes, these smokers are awful in every way. That hook on the spout is nearly as weak as aluminium foil and is utterly useless. The hinge for the spout is poor. The bellows on mine also incited a sting-fest so I stripped the stings off with sticky tape then covered the leather in clear sticky tape and now the bees don't react to it.

    Thankfully Thorne no longer sell that one. I'll have a word with Santa about one of those expensive Dadant smokers.
    Mine does not attract stings at all. I bought on ebay for c £15 six years ago.

    I cover the grip with masking tape to avoid propolis and replace that regularly. The rivets are rubbish and I have reworked the spout holder and replaced the rivets. It works OK.

    I never hang my smoker on anything having a mini wooden stand to avoid crop circles on my lawn :-)

    Edit: I am mean (edukated in Aberdeen ) so I am still using the same jacket , smoker and home made hive tool since I started in 2010.
    Last edited by madasafish; 01-08-2016 at 03:25 PM.

  10. #3320
    Senior Member Mellifera Crofter's Avatar
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    Thanks C4U, Kate - it did not occur to me that they might be re-using the wax. Apart from no nectar flow, the bees were so often hive-bound around here that I was worried I might have overlooked them being short of food. I don't think they were - so, happy to know they were having fun, reworking the wax, fighting with the wire - and not desperately eating wax.
    Kitta

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