Small Things
There are plenty of small items that I use that I think make beekeeping easier, or more efficient. Like plenty of other people, I like to experiment a lot, and have tried many things since I started, mostly things I make.
Here are a few.
This one is the newest- one I learned from my friend Jim.
I have tried all sorts of smoker fuel, and for some reason, have never had it been "perfect". In the last few years, I have almost exclusively used cedar shavings, and recently added to that the firestarters that Mann Lake sells. Works great- but not perfect. It sporadically kept lit- and often, when I needed it most- would have gone out. But it has been the best until now.
Before that I have used burlap, rolled cardboard, shavings, wood, wood pellets, pine needles, old rope- and none of it worked that well. All went out without constant maintenance.
But this is AWESOME and works great. But it does involve ordering from Amazon. You order this, , for about $24 bucks, which is this giant roll of corrugated cardboard with only one face. Its huge, and they ship it from wherever for free and its the biggest roll I have ever seen. I took it over to my sculptor neighbor to show her. We both stared at it awhile in admiration. Its like a perfect thing, a cardboard perfect thing, in a perfect cardboard box. Huge.
Jim is a teacher, and used this in art projects for kids. His have flowers painted all over them, and after that art project was done, he had the kids cut it up and make them. They rolled them and taped them. Which I think, is likely a problem for child labor laws- but on the other hand, was helping out with their own futures. Win-win.
Here you can see the strips cut, and how it is one sided:
I cut it in 60" lengths, roll the lengths into rolls, and tape the top and bottom with masking tape. There's probably something better than tape to use- as you burn it- but I don't know what it is yet. Maybe just thinner tape.
Then I chop it in half on a chop saw:
And start stacking them up:
And when need smoke- they fit perfect into my smoker, and I stick a firestarter in the center, and torch the heck out of it...
...let it burn a few minutes, and shut it down. Great cool full smoke, lasts a half hour maybe, and you just shove a new one in when it gets low- and it self lights. SO much better than what I used to do.
The next best thing is a very cheap hand held lens, with a light in it. I have tried 4 or 5 types, but this is the best (so far). Its been made since the 60s I would guess, called the M70 (here but Amazon has it- I have old ones from yard sales, can't attest to the new ones). They make them in Florida. How cool is that?
I need this as my eyes are going, and I can't see the eggs. So this has a light- and the light turns off when you take your finger off (some don't and the batteries die). I hold up a frame, and use this to scan quick for eggs, even in bright sunlight (which is hard to see). Works great.
I also hang it on one of those key chain things that have a spring- so its always available:
Another item, even cheaper- and I think this is really great- are colored plastic push pins. I carry them in my jacket. I use them to mark where a queen is- or a queen cell was found (both red)- or where an empty super is (blue). Just seeing the pin saves time when I have to remember where something is in a hive. Hard to see here, but there is a blue pin on the second super down here, indicating that this is an empty super. There are other colors, I just haven't figure out what they want to mean yet.
And for the last one in this blog entry- I make hive numbers with small pieces of galvanized flashing and stick on numbers from the hardware store. I drill a hole through the top of the tin, and stick on numbers- and pin them in to the hives. In that way, when I move supers around, I can move the pin and number. Works great, and have lasted well through lots of bad weather. I keep a bunch of spare numbers ready to go for when I start new hives. It makes record keeping way easier.
Here are a few.
This one is the newest- one I learned from my friend Jim.
I have tried all sorts of smoker fuel, and for some reason, have never had it been "perfect". In the last few years, I have almost exclusively used cedar shavings, and recently added to that the firestarters that Mann Lake sells. Works great- but not perfect. It sporadically kept lit- and often, when I needed it most- would have gone out. But it has been the best until now.
Before that I have used burlap, rolled cardboard, shavings, wood, wood pellets, pine needles, old rope- and none of it worked that well. All went out without constant maintenance.
But this is AWESOME and works great. But it does involve ordering from Amazon. You order this, , for about $24 bucks, which is this giant roll of corrugated cardboard with only one face. Its huge, and they ship it from wherever for free and its the biggest roll I have ever seen. I took it over to my sculptor neighbor to show her. We both stared at it awhile in admiration. Its like a perfect thing, a cardboard perfect thing, in a perfect cardboard box. Huge.
Jim is a teacher, and used this in art projects for kids. His have flowers painted all over them, and after that art project was done, he had the kids cut it up and make them. They rolled them and taped them. Which I think, is likely a problem for child labor laws- but on the other hand, was helping out with their own futures. Win-win.
Here you can see the strips cut, and how it is one sided:
I cut it in 60" lengths, roll the lengths into rolls, and tape the top and bottom with masking tape. There's probably something better than tape to use- as you burn it- but I don't know what it is yet. Maybe just thinner tape.
Then I chop it in half on a chop saw:
And start stacking them up:
And when need smoke- they fit perfect into my smoker, and I stick a firestarter in the center, and torch the heck out of it...
...let it burn a few minutes, and shut it down. Great cool full smoke, lasts a half hour maybe, and you just shove a new one in when it gets low- and it self lights. SO much better than what I used to do.
The next best thing is a very cheap hand held lens, with a light in it. I have tried 4 or 5 types, but this is the best (so far). Its been made since the 60s I would guess, called the M70 (here but Amazon has it- I have old ones from yard sales, can't attest to the new ones). They make them in Florida. How cool is that?
I need this as my eyes are going, and I can't see the eggs. So this has a light- and the light turns off when you take your finger off (some don't and the batteries die). I hold up a frame, and use this to scan quick for eggs, even in bright sunlight (which is hard to see). Works great.
I also hang it on one of those key chain things that have a spring- so its always available:
Another item, even cheaper- and I think this is really great- are colored plastic push pins. I carry them in my jacket. I use them to mark where a queen is- or a queen cell was found (both red)- or where an empty super is (blue). Just seeing the pin saves time when I have to remember where something is in a hive. Hard to see here, but there is a blue pin on the second super down here, indicating that this is an empty super. There are other colors, I just haven't figure out what they want to mean yet.
And for the last one in this blog entry- I make hive numbers with small pieces of galvanized flashing and stick on numbers from the hardware store. I drill a hole through the top of the tin, and stick on numbers- and pin them in to the hives. In that way, when I move supers around, I can move the pin and number. Works great, and have lasted well through lots of bad weather. I keep a bunch of spare numbers ready to go for when I start new hives. It makes record keeping way easier.
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