Synopsis: How can one thing so easy price a lot? Dummy boards and fats dummies. Some you should purchase, however shouldn’t. Some you’ll be able to’t purchase in any respect. Each may be constructed very inexpensively.

Introduction

Is there a statute of limitations on beekeeping matters for the web?

How incessantly ought to a blogger write about swarm management or thelytokous parthenogenesis or the provenance of honey?

The reply in fact is as typically as they wish to. It’s a free world.

However that doesn’t imply that the posts shall be learn.

If I wrote about swarm management each week, I’d rapidly run out of latest issues to write down, however – much more rapidly – I’d run out of readers. It’s an fascinating subject, there are many methods it may be achieved (and a number of other by which it can’t) and, at instances through the beekeeping season, it’s one thing all of us must do.

However selection is the spice of life, and there are many different fascinating beekeeping matters that deserve consideration.

Like thelytokous parthenogenesis.

Nonetheless, if I wrote about thelytoky for 2 weeks in a row I’d most likely outlast the persistence of readers (by a couple of fortnight).

So, maybe the frequency with which a subject is roofed ought to replicate its significance to all beekeepers, or my means to pronounce it?

Common readers ought to do not forget that they had been new readers as soon as. Some can have discovered the positioning, loved a submit or two after which rummaged again by means of the archives for different issues of curiosity. On common, guests to the positioning entry 1.8 pages … so for each 5 guests a day there are about 9 pages learn (or a minimum of considered).

No dummy board – be aware the brace comb (which is able to worsen)

Different new subscribers by no means look again, don’t use the search facility and marvel why I’ve by no means mentioned the intricacies of – for instance – dummy boards. In order that they submit a query (or electronic mail me instantly) about no matter subject is on the forefront of their minds.

Is a decade lengthy sufficient?

Any readers, common or current, who have been searching for an article on dummy boards can have had to return a couple of decade.

Every week may be a very long time in politics, however within the extra respectable and sedate world of beekeeping, a decade remains to be a very long time.

I’ve solely posted twice on them earlier than, in February and July 2014, they usually had been solely examine 1500 instances final yr (a fraction of a fraction of a p.c of the full … I may be fairly certain most of you studying this didn’t learn them). Each posts now redirect right here, however you may be capable to discover them in an web archive.

Basically, the one factor that’s modified within the intervening interval is the price of dummy boards when bought from the beekeeping suppliers.

In 2014 a dummy board price about £6 and I commented that I used to be ‘horrified’ one thing so easy might price a lot.

The identical factor is now £15.70.

That’s not inflation … that’s theft.

Utilizing the Financial institution of England’s inflation calculator, a £6 dummy board in 2014 ought to now price about £7.89.

Hmm?

If I might consider a superlative larger than horrified, I might use it now.

However, I’m getting forward of myself …

What’s a dummy board?

Within the UK, we name them dummy boards. High bar beekeepers and people within the USA most likely name them follower boards.

A dummy board is a board the identical width and depth as a typical body that’s used to handle the bee house adjoining to – sometimes – brood frames.

Dummy boards and fats dummies (see textual content for particulars)

The Nationwide hive is designed for 11 frames. Assuming the frames aren’t closely propolised and that they’re pushed collectively in opposition to one wall of the hive, there stays a ‘less-than-one-frame’ hole between the final body and the other wall (panel A within the diagram).

This house is essential. It permits the adjoining body to be separated from its neighbour and lifted clear with out rolling the bees on the interface of the frames.

Nonetheless, this ‘further’ house messes up the bee house within the hive and the bees will construct brace comb within the hole. Beneath sure circumstances they fill this with nectar or brood.

To keep away from this you insert a dummy board, shut sufficient to the final body to supply the right bee house (panel B).

Eleven frames and a dummy board

When beginning an inspection it’s simple to take away the dummy board, shake off the few adhering bees after which gently prise the final body away from its neighbour. With house to work, the bees is not going to be rolled or crushed and life shall be a lot simpler.

Usually, this implies that you will want one dummy board per brood field.

Right here’s one I made earlier

Dummy boards are trivial to construct.

One piece of 6-9 mm thick plywood (of the correct dimensions to your frames) and a few planed softwood of about 8×8 mm or 8×15 mm for the highest bar. Utilizing some waterproof wooden glue and body nails, connect the highest bar to the plywood.

Low-cost as chips to construct your self

Job performed!

I received’t insult your intelligence by suggesting how greatest to chop the wooden to measurement, or get the ply and high bar centred, or clamp the whole lot collectively whereas the glue units. Or, for that matter, supply the wooden … the offcuts bin of an area timber service provider is an efficient place to start out.

These dummy boards want no portray, waterproofing or remedy. The bees will cowl them in a skinny movie of propolis inside days.

Actually, it’s that straightforward?

Sure. For a tiny outlay, you may make one thing that, bought commercially, prices a daft sum of money.

Are they pretty much as good?

Basically, sure.

Over time – by which I imply a few years – these easy boards generally delaminate a bit.

Ugly? Maybe.

A difficulty by way of hygiene? Not likely if the dummy board stays in the identical hive. If not, blowtorch it effectively.

An obstacle to operate? Hardly ever.

The £15.70 business dummy boards most likely don’t delaminate. They often have birch softwood strips alongside the tip grain of the plywood.

Nonetheless, in my view, a restricted quantity of delamination is a really small worth to pay for the ~£15 saving I make per board.

However plastic dummy boards are ‘solely’ £8

The identical Lamborghini-driving business suppliers who promote wood dummy boards for £15.70 additionally promote a plastic equal for about £8.

Half the worth and fewer than half pretty much as good for my part.

However nonetheless an excessive amount of.

Right here’s one I broke earlier

I feel there are three issues unsuitable with the plastic ones:

• they’re plastic. The bees profit from plastic (polystyrene) hives, so I’m moderately completely satisfied to place up with the petrochemical merchandise. Nonetheless, I can see little or no profit for the bees from a plastic dummy board, not least as a result of …
• the lugs are fragile. A number of of mine have damaged. Maybe I’m much more clumsy than I assumed? You possibly can ‘repair’ them utilizing a screw rather than the lacking lug, however it’s probably not perfect.
• they don’t cope too effectively getting used as a stand for a scorching smoker on an adjoining poly hive roof. They’re additionally reasonably heavy.

Nonetheless, of their favour, they don’t warp or delaminate (in going by means of some outdated photos I see that they do warp).

Tremendous dummy boards

‘Tremendous’ as in becoming honey supers … although the worth once more suggests a superlative product.

A number of the business beekeeping suppliers additionally promote tremendous dummy boards. I’ve by no means had a purpose to make use of these and – amazingly contemplating the dimensions of my bloated stockpile of “beekeeping issues I’ve purchased however not use” – don’t even personal one.

I don’t routinely examine the supers so by no means have to make the house to take away the primary body. My supers begin with 11 evenly-spaced new frames. As soon as drawn or filling properly, I take away frames to ultimately depart 9.

Maybe I’m lacking one thing? Nonetheless, I’m moderately assured that tremendous dummy boards are one thing I can do with out.

Different dummy boards I can do with out

With one exception – see beneath – I may also do with out dummy boards which might be any thicker than a single piece of ~9 mm plywood.

I do know some beekeepers construct dummy boards which might be full-frame thickness, or twice that. They use these for ‘dummying down’ 3- or 4-frame nucleus colonies in a 5- or 6-frame nuc field.

These ‘over-width’ dummy boards may even be insulated to avoid wasting the bees heating the lifeless house within the nuc.

While this reasoning is completely sound, I take a practical method.

I solely have 3- or 4-frame nucs once I’m getting queens mated in late-Spring or Summer time. I doubt the bees want the additional insulation at the moment of the yr and am completely satisfied to make use of a single skinny dummy board (C within the schematic diagram above).

If the colony expands and builds brace comb behind the dummy board, then I’ve been remiss in my inspections. I ought to have added further frames and allowed them to develop correctly. A fatter dummy board may stop the brace comb … however the overcrowding may encourage swarming.

DIY to economize

I feel the worth of economic dummy boards is a compelling argument for doing a little bit of primary DIY for beekeeping.

Really, eager about it, I might most likely purchase the wooden, the Evo-stick glue and an affordable tenon noticed for the worth of 1 business birch dummy board.

The great thing about DIY for beekeeping is that I don’t have to spend £145 on Maismore’s new ‘Adapta-Dummy’ which automagically fills the vacant house in a hive – any hive.

I can spend 5 minutes and ~70 pence knocking easy dummy boards collectively from bits of ply or, if I actually felt they had been needed, construct one thing of any thickness I wished with a little bit ingenuity … and never far more moolah.

And, if I wished to seek out out whether or not a one-frame-width insulated dummy board was useful, I’d construct a number of and take a look at them. That’s much better than promoting a kidney to subsequently uncover that they had been no higher than my present setup, and simply gathered mud and cobwebs within the shed.

Fats dummies

If the monetary financial savings of creating easy dummy boards are a compelling purpose to ‘do it your self’, then the business availability of ‘fats dummies’ is one other – equally compelling – purpose.

The Maisemore’s Adapta-Dummy is fictional.

At the very least, I hope it’s.

Fats dummies aren’t, however to my data they don’t seem to be accessible commercially.

Maintain on … what’s a fats dummy?

My definition of a fats dummy is one thing that occupies a considerable house in a brood field. Usually, for causes I’ll get to shortly, the ‘substantial house’ is that occupied by 3.5 brood frames.

Customary self-spacing Hoffman frames are 35 mm thick, so 3.5 frames occupy 122.5 mm.

Two fats dummies subsequently occupy the identical width as 7 frames which, in a Nationwide brood field, leaves house for 4 further frames.

This setup – two fats dummies separated by 4 frames – is what’s used within the ‘Ben Harden’ queenright queen rearing technique.

Ben Harden setup for queen rearing – be aware integral feeder

This technique, which Ben Harden didn’t invent however did popularise with articles in BIBBA’s ‘Bee Enchancment’, is a quite simple (and subsequently good) manner of queen rearing. For my part it is a perfect technique for inexperienced persons to queen rearing to start out with; you want one robust colony, some enthusiasm, and no specialised gear.

Apart from two fats dummies.

Ben Harden queenright queen rearing

I’ve used this technique for years and written about it extensively. I’m subsequently solely going to deal with the elements related to this submit on fats dummies.

Within the Ben Harden setup, the 2 fats dummies are separated by 4 frames.

The 2 frames adjoining to the flanking fats dummies include pollen shops; it’s essential that there’s a lot of protein close by to make sure that the growing queens are well-nourished.

Between the pollen-rich frames is one body containing chosen larvae to be reared as queens (sometimes this can be a cell bar body containing grafted larvae).

The ultimate body comprises open brood to draw a lot of nurse bees up (from the brood field beneath) to the rapid neighborhood of the chosen larvae.

The concentrated nurse bees be certain that the growing queens are effectively fed. Except there’s a robust nectar circulate it’s often essential to feed the queen rearing colony with ~200 ml of skinny syrup (1:1 w/v) every single day or so till the cells are sealed.

Fats dummies for queen rearing

I’ve constructed quite a lot of fats dummies for queen rearing.

The most cost effective and best to assemble had been made out of salvaged Correx ‘For Sale’ indicators, strapped along with yards of gaffer tape. I stuffed them with polystyrene chips or bubble wrap, reasoning it might present higher insulation, although I’m undecided if it made a lot of a distinction.

Nonetheless, it could possibly’t have performed any hurt.

A Correx fats dummy from 2012 … nonetheless in use

These Correx fats dummies had been constructed over a decade in the past, are nonetheless in use most summers (and occasional winters) and ‘simply work’. The edges have bowed out a bit over time, however it doesn’t actually influence their operate.

However, if you’re going to DIY, you’ll be able to nearly at all times ‘construct one thing higher’.

Because it’s typically useful to feed syrup when rearing queens, it was logical to construct a ‘Mark 2’ fats dummy with an integral feeder. While I’m competent with Correx, making a syrup-tight feeder was past me, so I used skinny plywood on a wood body. The latter (I feel … it’s a very long time in the past) consisted of butchered brood frames, spaced accurately with some scrap softwood. Once more, these had been crammed with some kind of insulation.

Picket (largely) fats dummy with integral feeder

The feeder is sealed on the within, most likely with varnish. Alternatively, I’ve sealed functionally-similar body feeders by sloshing round some molten beeswax inside.

Fats dummies for different duties

For Ben Harden queen rearing there’s actually no different than utilizing fats dummies just like these described above.

However they can be utilized for different issues as effectively.

After I unite nucs with a full hive – for instance, when requeening a hive with a brand new queen mated from a 3-5 body nuc – I’ll sometimes use the newspaper technique with a second brood field part-filled with a fats dummy.

I am going by means of the hive to be requeened and take away the undesirable queen, lay a few sheets of newspaper excessive bars after which add a second brood field. The latter is part-filled with one or two fats dummies, relying on whether or not it’s a 3, 4, 5 or 6 body nuc that’s being united. Three or 4 frames go between two fats dummies, any extra and I simply put the nuc frames in opposition to the sidewall and push one fats dummy up in opposition to them.

Getting ready to unite a nuc with a full hive

I’ve beforehand mentioned taking your ‘winter losses within the autumn’ by uniting weak (wholesome) colonies with robust colonies in late autumn, reasonably than doubtlessly dropping them within the winter.

Nonetheless, inevitably, I’ve additionally tried overwintering weak colonies. You should use a fats dummy to part-fill the house in a brood field, inserting this over a robust colony separated by a break up board with a double-mesh display screen. The bees within the higher field profit from the heat of the colony beneath, and use the higher entrance offered by the break up board.

Nonetheless, the ‘profit’ may nonetheless not be sufficient to maintain the small colony alive … I’m subsequently more likely to go away the fats dummies within the shed overwinter and unite the weak colony earlier than the tip of the season.

Conclusions

Dummy boards and fats dummies are a very good instance of straightforward beekeeping gear that:

• enhance colony administration
• are used more often than not in each hive (dummy boards) or hardly ever (fats dummies) … you both have to buy a number of, or they’re unused for a lot of the yr
• price ‘foolish cash’ when bought commercially, or aren’t available for purchase
• may be simply and inexpensively constructed

If anybody can persuade me that £15.70 represents good worth for cash then be happy to go away a remark beneath.

Notes

Anybody considering the title referred to sure actions on social media may be disillusioned, however nonetheless right.

Observant readers will be aware that nothing has modified on the web site since final week. I hit a last-minute glitch, now resolved, so plan to vary issues on Tuesday subsequent.

I hope 😉