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Chapter 3

Cover board and divider board

From the video: Practical Beekeeping Part 3

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Transcript
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That patty, this board, this fiberboard — it serves me as insulating thermal material through the entire winter. I make the patties in autumn, but I don't activate those patties until the first spring cleansing flight. When the first spring cleansing flight happens, and that is somewhere around mid-February, in the month of February, I just pull out this feeder plug, put back the plastic sheet, I cover it with the plastic and my patty is activated; then the bees normally consume that patty — you can see it in the previous shot, in one, in another. If wild cherry comes and blooms, apple, plum, and we need a bit of syrup, liquid food, we pull out this plug over here, Cut the plastic with a scalpel, place the feeder — bees are already on the dough, on the patty; once they're on the patty they've already come out, there they are on the syrup too — so at the same moment they can consume both liquid and solid food. This cover board also serves us during the active season — if we want to make a mating nuc, a nucleus, a swarm, we place this cover board on the brood box, Open this entrance on top like on a bottom board, here we put this feeder plug — what have we got from the cover board? We've got a kind of makeshift bottom board where we place a shallow super or a box, here a frame of sealed brood, We shake in bees — the old bees will return down to their lower entrance, and the young bees and the brood they will cover will stay up here. We will add, A queen cell — the queen will mate, and at that point, it's May, June, we don't need this warmer cover board; now this is our cover board, and this one below also serves as a bottom board. The queen has mated, started laying, we've tested her quality, moved her where needed or replaced the lower queen in that existing colony, we've united the bees with that colony — and again our cover board is back; it's no longer a bottom board. So it plays a role in using all queen cells, In the apiary, to make use of them, To replace old queens when we get them, To, um, During the active season. And, that would be, That would be the advantage of this cover board, So, To have under every roof, At any given moment, an additional Bottom board, an additional cover board, During the active season, and to Be able to use all queen cells, To be able to, um, Make this, um A mating nuc, a nucleus, whatever we need. Whatever we'll need, and when we finish With all those operations, again We put it back together, And it's our cover board again. Its total thickness is, It's about, somewhere around 26 mm, which is thicker Than the hive wall. So, um, The cover board should always be Thicker than the hive walls. And I achieved that. When I don't have patties, If I didn't make patties in autumn, Here I cut out A piece of 1 cm styrofoam, I place the styrofoam And place this cover board on top, But if I made patties in autumn, Then the patty plays The role of styrofoam. From the rest of the equipment That I have standardized, I have a divider board For the active season, Which consists of three parts. This is my divider board, You see, into this divider board Goes A queen excluder, A queen excluder goes in, Here you see, like in a sleeve, Here is the queen excluder, When we don't need the queen excluder, If we're doing some other operation, Then we have a wire mesh here, Which we pull out Instead of the queen excluder, We insert the wire mesh, Here you see, a wire mesh, If we don't need the wire mesh, The third insert is a solid divider made of fiberboard, Here you see how the solid divider goes in Made of fiberboard, During the active season Sometimes we need the mesh, Sometimes the queen excluder, Sometimes the solid divider, This is my equipment which has two tools For manipulating bees When directing them Into the honey super, from the brood box, Suppressing the swarming impulse, A very practical Divider board, Which I have been using for About the last ten years And I am very satisfied. Next in my equipment is The so-called bee escape Canadian type, Made of Simply, you see, fiberboard, A triangle with mesh, When I want to remove Honey supers for extraction, 24 hours before I place these bee escapes, After 24 hours I just take them off, Bees go down Into the brood box, They free up the honey above And I have been using this bee escape For the last ten years. Furthermore, I have A Roshus bottom board For queen rearing, Here you see it is divided Into three compartments, The middle one has an entrance And these two side ones, So that would complete my equipment, That is, the bottom board And the cover board, Those are like my inventions.

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Guide

Inner cover, divider board, and bee escape

Multi-purpose inner cover

This inner cover has a lower relief entrance and an upper entrance. On a strong colony during summer, the lower entrance is opened for better honey ripening, vertical ventilation, and relieving the lower entrances. When not needed, it is closed with a plug.

Construction

It is made from spruce board 1 cm thick. It has an opening for a round 2-liter feeder. A thick plastic sheet is placed over the board so the board does not absorb moisture from the patty. The patty, board, and fiberboard together serve as insulating thermal material throughout the entire winter. The total thickness is about 26 mm — it is important that the inner cover always be thicker than the hive walls.

Activating the patty in spring

Patties are prepared in autumn (November), but are not activated until the first spring cleansing flight — this is usually mid-February. Activation is simple: remove the feeder plug, replace the plastic sheet, close the cover — and the patty is activated. The bees consume it normally.

When wild cherry, apple, and plum trees bloom — and liquid feed is needed — a scalpel is used to cut the plastic sheet and a feeder is placed. The bees are already on the patty, so as soon as access is opened — they immediately use the syrup as well. In this way, the colony simultaneously consumes both liquid and solid feed.

If patties were not prepared in autumn, a piece of styrofoam 1 cm thick can be placed instead for insulation.

Inner cover as a bottom board for a mating nuc

During the active season, when a mating nuc, nucleus, or swarm needs to be made — the inner cover is placed on the brood box and the upper entrance is opened. This creates an auxiliary bottom board for a shallow super: a frame of sealed brood is inserted, bees are shaken in. Older bees return down to their entrance, while young bees and brood remain above.

A queen cell is added, the queen mates, her quality is assessed, she is moved where needed or replaces the old queen. When finished — everything is reassembled and the board serves as an inner cover again. This way, under every roof there is an additional bottom board during the active season, without extra equipment.

Divider board

The divider board consists of three interchangeable parts:

  • Queen excluder — for separating the queen from the honey super
  • Wire mesh — for ventilation and special operations
  • Solid fiberboard divider — for complete physical separation

During the season, depending on the need, the appropriate insert is used — for directing bees from the brood box to the honey super and suppressing the swarming impulse.

Bee escape

The Canadian bee escape is made from fiberboard with mesh. It is placed 24 hours before removing the honey supers for extraction. The bees pass down into the brood box, freeing the honey above — and the super can be removed without difficulty.

Roshus bottom board for queen rearing

The Roshus bottom board is divided into three compartments — a center one and two side ones with separate entrances. It is used in combination with the inner cover for efficient queen rearing.

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