BBKA Forum

Bloody hell Mick, no wonder the air freshener is needed for this amount of bees!!!

I think I may have discovered why the bees were crowding on the outside of the hive. I had left the bee escapes in the crown board. Bees went up into the roof and couldn't get back down, and ones on the outside sensed they were in there. Any comments? I have cleaned the wax off and blowtorched the area where they were. Haven't tried the air freshener yet! All seems much quieter now.

I leave (Porter) bee escapes in the crown board so bees can get down if the escapes haven't been glued shut..

I leave (Porter) bee escapes in the crown board so bees can get down if the escapes haven't been glued shut

I was thinking all wrong in my last message. Of course the bees go down through a bee escape, not up!
I tried the zoflora on the outside where bees were congregating and it seems to have worked!

The only porter escapes I use have been gutted and filled with tin foil.
I have two crownboard/ feeder boards that I didn't make myself that have porter holes in them which I can blank off with the nobbled escapes.
Clearing is done with rhombus boards which are far more effective and humane