Dummy board

[troy1]

Hi,
Got my bees yay! Homed them, but was just wondering if I can make a dummy board out of a frame by sliding a piece of perspex in instead of the foundation?

 

[enrico]

Not really, that will leave more than a bee space! You have to have the dummy board mimicking the distance between the last frame and the side wall. So.... If you are using a dn1 for example, you need to fasten it to the edge of the frame not the centre where the wax goes.
E

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

As Enrico - a dummy board is just a flat piece of wood - slid up against the outer frame (butting against the spacer) it then becomes the hive wall and leaves a single bee space. I use 8mm plywood with an 8x8 mm 'top bar' nice and thin so it leaves plenty of space to slide it back before removing for inspection

 

[Madge]

I think the boards Enrico and Jenkins talk about are called 'follower boards'. They mimic the end wall and follow the frames.

You can do what you're suggesting, but use those dummies only as spacers to fill a larger area when necessary. So: frames, a follower board, and then dummies to fill an empty space between follower board and side wall.

But why use perspex? It's expensive. I've used thin correx.

Kitta

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I think the boards Enrico and Jenkins talk about are called 'follower boards'.

No - they're dummy boards - they're only called followers if you are American.
What on earth is the point of putting frames with correx instead of foundation between the dummy board and the hive wall?

 

[troy1]

Thanks for the answers guys, yes was just looking for a board to put in and out to make it easier for inspecting the frames

 

[ratcatcher]

Thanks for the answers guys, yes was just looking for a board to put in and out to make it easier for inspecting the frames

I had one of those in my 14x12, but opted to put another frame in the space that it takes, as it will only get filled with stores at the edge, rather than brood, it's just as easy to remove when inspecting

 

[Madge]

No - they're dummy boards - they're only called followers if you are American.
What on earth is the point of putting frames with correx instead of foundation between the dummy board and the hive wall?

I should have said that in practice we call both kinds dummy boards. Dave Cushman mentions follower boards but on rereading the web page I see he used it as an alterative name for a division board.

I often use spacing dummies, particularly when using two brood-boxes. Ian Craig explains their use in his article, 'My beekeeping year', published on the SBA website.

 

[itma]

I had one of those in my 14x12, but opted to put another frame in the space that it takes, as it will only get filled with stores at the edge, rather than brood, it's just as easy to remove when inspecting

As Jenkins and Enrico have explained, a dummy board needs to be flat to pretend to be the hive wall, just a single beespace away.
That type of board keeps the comb next to it to the same fatness as the other broodbox frames, and thereby allows you to inspect while handling each frame just once, ending by returning the dummy to the opposite end of the hive from where it started.

As Jenkins indicates (but didn't state explicitly) it also needs to be *thinner* than a frame - otherwise, I'd prefer to have another frame in there!

Incidentally, if anyone else sees sense and goes this homemade route … the board beneath the stripwood 'topbar' for a 14x12 hive needs to be cut to exactly … 14 by 12 inches! (It is 14 by 8 inches for an ordinary ('deep') National brood.)

/ OK, if you like, you can get fancy, edging the board with more stripwood - in which case, the board will need to be slightly smaller, so that, with its extra edge strips, it comes up to 14x12 or 14x8 as appropriate.

 

[MuswellMetro]

I had one of those in my 14x12, but opted to put another frame in the space that it takes, as it will only get filled with stores at the edge, rather than brood, it's just as easy to remove when inspecting

you must have exeptionaly low propolising bees otherwise with 12 hoffmans in a box you will be cursing that you cannot get the first frame out come the first spring inspection

Some of the continetal crosses propolise and wax the hoffmans frames so much it is diffiuclt to get even a 8mm dummy and 11 frames in a box unless you keep them close closed up