T's winter online sale

[MuswellMetro]

So let me get this right, you basically fully submerge the wood in water for 24 hours.

Then let it dry out before making it?

And this can straighten out warped panels?

What other purpose does it have, if they are not warped?

Are the tenons the side struts that you get to lock into the panels?

yes, a real banana will take longer,it helps return it to the state when cut, i had one last year that the side struts when put into the sides were at 30degrees to parallel, i leave then 12 hours outside to dry out but still relative damp i find while damp the mortice and tenon fits better and if you put a verticule pin in rather than a side pin through the side of tenon into mortice then joint is tighter when all is dry

soaking is particulary needed with cheaper hives like the caddon hive were the shrinkage if left in a Central heated home is very large....i help a beginner last tuesday, caddon hive store on top of wardrobe since march!!!

i use to make super up for a commcerial beek years go ,he used Taylors of Welwyn hives before they ceased production, and he kept them under wet straw until we made then up

 

[itma]

...
I ordered two extra supers to eke out two existing standard brood boxes to 14 x 12.
Does the eke have to be 3 5/8 inches or will 4 be OK and what's the best way to join the two together?

Ummm. Is that the KISS approach?

I'm looking at the T sale prices for 14x12 BB and Nat Super.
Or rather, at the difference between them.
If I could sell the used National BB for as much as that difference, wouldn't I have a result that was better, much easier to achieve (involving no real carpentry) and no more expensive?

OK, sure, if I was looking for a quick and easy way to revert back to a Nat BB, then making an eke would make sense. Otherwise ... ?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Erichalfbee,

Certainly a way of doing it
Regards, RAB

RAB, thanks. Food for thought,as always

 

[Erichalfbee]

Ummm.

The Nat BBs are T h o r n e s seconds and put together in a really ugly fashion when I was still learning to use a screwdriver for anything other than rewiring a plug.
They are top bee space.
It seems easier in my mind to convert them to 14 x 12. I wanted to extend them with the same material,ie cedar. Hence my idea to use a super rather than try to source cedar planking.
Well,whatever I use I needed an idea of how to fix it.

 

[MuswellMetro]

a maisemore 14x12 eke in their sale would have been cheaper but they are now all sold

i have used supers as an emergency eke with a standard brood but always found they make worker and a lot of drone brood under the bottom bar which makes it difficult if transferring those frames to a standard 14x12 Nuc or 14x12 brood box

i often use two super plus and an api eke as a 14x12 emergency brood

 

[Hivemaker.]

With regards to all of this soaking new products in water butts,not being able to keep indoors ect,there should be none,or very rarely any of these problems with properly prepared and seasoned/kiln dried cedar.

 

[kighill]

With regards to all of this soaking new products in water butts,not being able to keep indoors ect,there should be none,or very rarely any of these problems with properly prepared and seasoned/kiln dried cedar.

The reason I agree is that I own 8 hives bought from a gent called Hiv*maker, I have seen his workshop and was facinated by his production methods and the quality of the timber used.

Ps this is not an advert for the "old drone" but praise should be given when it is deserved.

 

[BBG]

With regards to all of this soaking new products in water butts,not being able to keep indoors ect,there should be none,or very rarely any of these problems with properly prepared and seasoned/kiln dried cedar.

Yes, thinking the same thing myself, sounds a lot of fiddling about with something that should just go together.

Which makes me wonder why somebody who builds quality cedar hives, doesn't send emails, that can also be put on the forum by those that get them, to let everybody know what they sell.

Especially as it's not advertising.

- - -

Kighill:

"The reason I agree is that I own 8 hives bought from a gent called Hiv*maker, I have seen his workshop and was facinated by his production methods and the quality of the timber used.

Ps this is not an advert for the "old drone" but praise should be given when it is deserved."


We also have seen Hivemaker's set up, excellent timber and end results, we would have bought all from him if we hadn't gone polystyrene.

 

[Beeline]

Thought I would buy a strainer in anticipation of my first crop next year. I see Th**nes are offering their s/s conical tap strainer at a great knockdown price.

Having had no experience in straining/ sieving honey before, will this strainer do the job for non-retail use or will I still have to use something else to get a clearish bottle of honey?

BL

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thought I would buy a strainer in anticipation of my first crop next year. I see Th**nes are offering their s/s conical tap strainer at a great knockdown price.

Having had no experience in straining/ sieving honey before, will this strainer do the job for non-retail use or will I still have to use something else to get a clearish bottle of honey?

BL

I bought two nylon strainers from Home Bargains for £1 each and they did the job. They are pretty roomy so you don't have to keep stopping the flow to clean them.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Thought I would buy a strainer in anticipation of my first crop next year. I see Th**nes are offering their s/s conical tap strainer at a great knockdown price.

Having had no experience in straining/ sieving honey before, will this strainer do the job for non-retail use or will I still have to use something else to get a clearish bottle of honey?

BL

i find the £13.50 double SS strainer is better as it extends to fit over 15/30lb tubs or honey bucket , the conical drips on the floor unless you are quick exchanging tubs....i prefer to use 15 or 30 lbs tubs as a bucket can be quite heavy

garden gate sales i just sell as strained ( after settling for 48 hours),

 

[Beeline]

Thanks for the feedback. So conical seems to have it limitations and bigger appears better in order to minimise blockages.

The prospect of having a problem of a bucket of honey weighing more than 30lbs would be welcomed by me but I'm sure the excitement soon fades as you try lug it around.

 

[Black Comb]

i find the £13.50 double SS strainer is better as it extends to fit over 15/30lb tubs or honey bucket , the conical drips on the floor unless you are quick exchanging tubs....i prefer to use 15 or 30 lbs tubs as a bucket can be quite heavy

garden gate sales i just sell as strained ( after settling for 48 hours),

 

[itma]

i find the £13.50 double SS strainer is better as it extends to fit over 15/30lb tubs or honey bucket , the conical drips on the floor unless you are quick exchanging tubs ...

The conical is said to have the same size mesh as the coarser one of the pair.

My presumption (based on conical strainers in the kitchen) would be that the conical (by virtue of its shape) would accept more debris before blocking than the flat strainer would.
Hence its probably going to come into its own when straining larger quantities of honey ... (no harm hoping!) ... or honey with lots of 'stuff' in it.

 

[Black Comb]

The conical is said to have the same size mesh as the coarser one of the pair.

My presumption (based on conical strainers in the kitchen) would be that the conical (by virtue of its shape) would accept more debris before blocking than the flat strainer would.
Hence its probably going to come into its own when straining larger quantities of honey ... (no harm hoping!) ... or honey with lots of 'stuff' in it.

In my experience it is the opposite way round. I have both.

 

[itma]

In my experience it is the opposite way round. I have both.

Interesting!

Is the debris being held in the mesh, rather than falling down into the centre of the cone?



Added: Left out from my earlier response is that the finer part of the double being finer than the conical one, the double is going to remove more total stuff and thus give 'cleaner' honey. (so it should granulate more slowly?)

The double that I bought in this year's sale is several months away from being used!

 

[Black Comb]

Area of filtration seems smaller on conical.
Perhaps it's the shape but it does tend to block quickly. I cut off the cappings rather than heat gun so it's messier.

Double strainer has a large flat area to catch all the rough stuff.

I do the same as MM.

 

[RoofTops]

The double SS strainers do not in my experience strain the honey fine enough. I put one over the bucket below the extractor tap and it is great for getting the lumps of wax out and larger bits of bee, although it still dips too far down to allow the bucket to be filled so I raise it up with a couple of blocks of wood.

If you don't filter again you are likely to see minute black specks in the honey, which are the remains of antenna, feet, etc., so after the initial filtering I strain again straight afterwards, while the honey is still warm, through a conical 200 micron nylon sieve which if using 30lb buckets needs to stand on the wooden legged tripod you can buy for this type of strainer. If using the Carl Fritz 25 or 50 Kg tanks the 30cm diameter conical nylon filter is a perfect size for these tanks.

Alternatively, you can get straining cloths which you can line the SS sieves with or get one of the cloths with ties which fasten around the top of a larger bucket.

With the nylon strainers the honey must be warmed to flow through them - if it cools you will need to warm it again. You can also get electric heating elements which fit inside the conical nylon strainers - which are convenient to use but the straining will still take some time if the honey is very cold to start with.

 

[Poly Hive]

Frankly they are ok for a pound or two but not much more.

I used to strain out of the extractor but rapidly gave that up as a bad idea.

What worked best, and yes it needs more kit, is a spin drier. Sorry to say but to successfully clean honey some power is required. And oddly the more the filter cake builds up the better the cleaning.

PH

 

[BBG]

The double SS strainers do not in my experience strain the honey fine enough. I put one over the bucket below the extractor tap and it is great for getting the lumps of wax out and larger bits of bee, although it still dips too far down to allow the bucket to be filled so I raise it up with a couple of blocks of wood.

If you don't filter again you are likely to see minute black specks in the honey, which are the remains of antenna, feet, etc., so after the initial filtering I strain again straight afterwards, while the honey is still warm, through a conical 200 micron nylon sieve which if using 30lb buckets needs to stand on the wooden legged tripod you can buy for this type of strainer. If using the Carl Fritz 25 or 50 Kg tanks the 30cm diameter conical nylon filter is a perfect size for these tanks.

Alternatively, you can get straining cloths which you can line the SS sieves with or get one of the cloths with ties which fasten around the top of a larger bucket.

With the nylon strainers the honey must be warmed to flow through them - if it cools you will need to warm it again. You can also get electric heating elements which fit inside the conical nylon strainers - which are convenient to use but the straining will still take some time if the honey is very cold to start with.

I am unhappy with the design of a lot of the honey processing gear:

The conical strainers allow dust etc in while they're straining.

The double strainers do the same and as you mention, don't filter well.

For both a sheet with a hole has to be deployed to keep out dust.

Extractors aren't high enough off the ground for decent size buckets AND fliter///