Cloake Boarding
Almost half my hives are on my porch roof, though there are usually 9 up there, there are now only 8. I have 3 on the ground, and 8 at another location, so right now, 20 total. Below is a photo, which shows the basic roof setup as of yesterday. I always number these roof hives 1 through 9, and I think I've had them up there for 10 years or so, or more. I put them there originally as I have a good buddy with an epi-pen, and thought this might make the yard more friendly. Which it does- works great- bees vortex upward. Not good for bare feet though- as they also drop a lot of bees into the lawn.
Access is an issue, I use a ladder with a pulley and platform to raise and lower supers, and another ladder to climb up. A railing would be smart. Dead bees fill up the gutter, so it needs to be cleaned out (and I Clorox it a little). The pitch is low- like 2:12- too much steeper might be hard to work on, but I don't really know the limit. It destroys, of course, your roofing. I work in the center dormer, so I get to see a lot happen. I am not sure I'd recommend it, but it has worked well for me in a small town.
I've started using Cloake Boards in an attempt to get some queens out of a few awesome hives. They are super simple to build- and the concept of using them, though it demands attention to a schedule, is brilliant. I haven't gone through the whole process yet, but I have to say, it makes a lot of sense. Famous breeder Susan Colby uses this method for taking care of grafted queens, but I am using a lesser method for just raising a few at a time, and seems to be working great.
Here is one of the frames- but they all look like this- this one with 4 queen cells (three on lower left) on day 5. On day 11, I'll move them to mating nucs. If I can get mated queens from these hives this way- even just a few- that would be awesome. This is newish comb- no stores are adjacent, and I only had it in for a few days for the queen to lay, but I have lots of stores in the frames beside it.
Finally, not related, but a real endorsement of this hive tool , which I have used for 3 seasons now. Its available anywhere online, and I totally would not be without it now. It is bent to allow you to pry a frame up, neatly. Like all hive tools, I wish it were a little wider so when I used to to space frames it gave me more room, but it makes pulling out a frame infinitely easier, and I have totally set aside the frame holder I used to use to pull out stuck frames. Very nice. I tie a string to it, which I tie to my suit, so I am never far from it. Also essential for me.
Access is an issue, I use a ladder with a pulley and platform to raise and lower supers, and another ladder to climb up. A railing would be smart. Dead bees fill up the gutter, so it needs to be cleaned out (and I Clorox it a little). The pitch is low- like 2:12- too much steeper might be hard to work on, but I don't really know the limit. It destroys, of course, your roofing. I work in the center dormer, so I get to see a lot happen. I am not sure I'd recommend it, but it has worked well for me in a small town.
I've started using Cloake Boards in an attempt to get some queens out of a few awesome hives. They are super simple to build- and the concept of using them, though it demands attention to a schedule, is brilliant. I haven't gone through the whole process yet, but I have to say, it makes a lot of sense. Famous breeder Susan Colby uses this method for taking care of grafted queens, but I am using a lesser method for just raising a few at a time, and seems to be working great.
Above is one of the hives I am working with. I use Westerns for brood chambers, so there are two, rather than one, below. I prefer Westerns quite a bit- they give you more flexibility in working with a hive, are way lighter, and you just have one type of equipment to work with. 3 of them equal almost exactly the same number of cells as two deeps.
The board is shown inserted below. Its in a frame, and slides in and out, and the frame is stapled to a queen excluder. Very easy to build- took me no time at all to build a few. Using these raises your entrance (which you also reverse), and so there are lots of bees that land below out of habit and climb up during this process.
Here is the board being pulled out, which happens after the queens have been created and you want to rejoin the hives so it can work as a unit. I wax, with melted paraffin, the board (ACX plywood), which seems to work really well for weather protection. So far anyway.
After removing the board, I install a landing platform, which I originally made for the Snelgrove boards (set aside for now, I hope to give them a try again next year, but had no success with them this year). Its a piece of stout flashing, usually painted a bright color, and with some holes drilled so I can push pin it in. Sloped a little for drainage. I keep a few in my box.
Here is one of the frames- but they all look like this- this one with 4 queen cells (three on lower left) on day 5. On day 11, I'll move them to mating nucs. If I can get mated queens from these hives this way- even just a few- that would be awesome. This is newish comb- no stores are adjacent, and I only had it in for a few days for the queen to lay, but I have lots of stores in the frames beside it.
Finally, not related, but a real endorsement of this hive tool , which I have used for 3 seasons now. Its available anywhere online, and I totally would not be without it now. It is bent to allow you to pry a frame up, neatly. Like all hive tools, I wish it were a little wider so when I used to to space frames it gave me more room, but it makes pulling out a frame infinitely easier, and I have totally set aside the frame holder I used to use to pull out stuck frames. Very nice. I tie a string to it, which I tie to my suit, so I am never far from it. Also essential for me.
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