Slatted Bottoms, Queens Raised

Moving to winter- not far away- I raise  queens for the first time in 23 years of doing this- but also, start thinking about the 20 hives I need to make healthy for winter= and the 10 nucs with virgin queens I need to support.... I spent the weekend, early on to late- making slatted bottom boards, long overdue I think - and although they cost 18 bucks a pop from Mann Lake, I find from honeybeesuite.com a nice design, and make then. I calc the materials cost about 4 bucks per= but I use really cheap Home Depot material- and start earlySaturday morning cutting materials.

Not a recommendation. It takes me- well- well into Sunday to get them made. There are a lot of cuts to make, and 200 tenoned slats to make- and the whole shebang of them need paint and sanding and ... it goes on and on. I can't say its worth it - except for the experience of keeping busy- but if you have something else to do, and more than a few hives, then I'd recommend ordering them, skip making them. 

To start, here's a new queen cell, ready to hatch, A wierd, pretty thing, Like coral, I think. Inside, the  young larval queen.

A queen cell- an ancient thing. Protect what matters with a waffle of walls- its not smooth like a glass bottle- its wax - weak, so it gets thickened, but efficiently.

But to make the slatted boards- not related to making queens- but concurrent right now for me-I start cutting up cheap lumber on my table saw and router- and it (for one) means cutting 200 slats, each with a tenon end- well, it's crazy, I stop for a photo of what it looks like as I toss each one into a pile next to my saw...

tenoned slats in a pile

And after many tenons, and many router cuts- I am ready to start...

All materials cut and organized, ready for putting them together.

 I use a router to cut the multiple dados required,,,a cheap router table I always use- I mount my router to a piece of plywood, and screw it to a worktable...

To make the slats I use 1x4, cut the tenons from that on a table saw, then rip the 1x4 to make the slats,,,.

And each side piece gets a dado- and Saturday morning becomes evening,,,

And after a heck of a long time- I have 20 slatted bottom boards ready to paint up. I use spray paint from a rattle can to prime and paint them.

And at the same time, I have my two queen mating areas happening. Here's one- all Western hives on a concrete block, with 4 frames, a queen cell or two, pollen patties, and a feeder. I looked today- all queens hatched, and of the three I searched though, i found queens, Small, nervous, and running about without much attention from anyone. It seems like they are too small- but maybe this is because they are unmated. I'll go through again next week to see if they are bigger, and laying.

And here, a third of my hives and my trusty bee truck- 1976 f150 with a 300 6 with a bullet hole in it- from the previous owner, who was an EPA worker in Montana who got shot at, and sold it to me in Seattle - another story- but a great truck, All the hives here now have slatted racks. I am thinking this is really going to help me (and the bees). In front, behind the truck,  a poulry watering can, that doesn't seem to be used much by the bees. Not sure why.

And an example of the puzzle which confronts me- next pic. A swarm, from June, from one of my hives above, They landed on a cedar (fave tree I think!), . And then became the best hive I have. A brood chamber, if you keep Westerns, is three tall. This hive, in a few months, has packed away four FOUR full supers on top of that. Not a record, but a demonstration of what a good queen, in the right place, can do.

I see hives sort of like Mutual Funds- returning to the center on their own. Not easily managed, not controllable- eventualy returning to the average. But when they start out- they can be hot stock. This is one.  I was tempted to raise queens from it. Instead, I used its mom. But its food for thoughr for me- how starting out- with open frames (drawn) and no confinement- and a colony bent on surviving- can be. Next year- I want to know how to make the hives I have now, as powerful as this.