Category Archives: Bee-keeping

Testing the solar wax melter

Posted on July 2, 2024 by james

I’m afraid the photos here really aren’t that great, mostly because the melter needs to face the Sun as much as possible, but what we have is the tray full of “crumbled” comb, mostly from old brood frames. I’m told … Continue reading →

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Solar Wax Melter mk2

Posted on July 2, 2024 by james

A few years back I took apart my original solar wax melter to rebuild as a steam-powered version. The original worked well enough, but it just didn’t have the capacity I wanted. Now I’ve reached the point where the expensive … Continue reading →

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Beehive paint

Posted on June 3, 2024 by james

Some of my wooden beehives boxes are a bit worn and tired (or just weren’t made too accurately) and only really suitable for use as bait hives. But how to tell them from my other wooden hives that I’m happy … Continue reading →

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Ye Gods! More frames!

Posted on June 3, 2024 by james

Yes, I’m still going 😀

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More frames still

Posted on June 3, 2024 by james

Yes, I’m still going with the beehive frame-making. Another hundred or so done now. I’ve moved on from Manley frames for the supers to Hoffmans for the brood boxes (because those were the parts on top of the pile on … Continue reading →

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Frames for my new boxes

Posted on May 28, 2024 by james

I need to move some sheet materials because they’re in the way of work that must be completed, but the place I’d like to move them to is already occupied by some other sheets for lining the bee shed. I … Continue reading →

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Tasty water!

Posted on May 28, 2024 by james

I’m really not sure if they’re after this to cool the hives down inside (unlikely, surely?) or to dilute honey because forage is not coming in fast enough. Plenty being collected though.

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Box-making jig revisited

Posted on May 28, 2024 by james

I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before, but all I needed to get the frame rails at the correct height in the jig was to find two old top bars and cut off the section opposite the … Continue reading →

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A bee box-making jig

Posted on May 28, 2024 by james

As I had a number of brood boxes to make up, today I decided to make a jig that holds them square and aligns the frame rails at the correct height. Only when it came to making the parts for … Continue reading →

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Memory Lane, 20th June 2023: Extracting brood frames

Posted on May 28, 2024 by james

I’ve been wondering if I could extract honey from brood frames with my existing extractor and without buying any extra (and expensive) parts. I reckon it might be possible. Only three at a time, but then with screens I’d only … Continue reading →

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