I have not used Apimaye, but would it be helpful to slide the pollen trap back an inch or two in late afternoon, to allow late returning bees unrestricted access as the evening cools? Then any bees still looking for a way up through the trap might clear out. Another benefit would be that the bees get to keep that last portion of pollen collected for the day...
So I have been testing something similar over the past few days . It seems even when I partially pull the tray out to allow pollen to come in for the bees and not myself, somehow, I still am collecting pollen. It appears that even with room for the bees to go inside freely, some still find their way through the little pollen collector holes and I end up collecting pollen still. I think the only way to make it so that they keep all of the pollen is either to pull it out completely or almost the entire way out but then you have this weird plastic piece dangling out of the back...
How about if you pull it back to where the holes start and leave it there a day or so or like one of the other person said go back out at dark and finish pulling it out 🤷♂️🤷♂️. Good informative video . Thanks
Yep they have stayed strong no issues on my end. Only warp I’ve had has been due to using an oxalic acid vaporizer which will melt the plastic near the entrance. Aside from that, very pleased with the apimaye bottoms.
It is not inevitable. You could pull it out as far as solid part and leave it until evening so they can walk up through the opening you created by pulling it back, and then slowly wiggle it out. Or you can just remove it slowly in the night when most bees are up in the hive body seen that you seem to have your bees just in your backyard. Install at nights and remove it at nights or early mornings before the girls start foraging!
I have created a workaround with these apimaye bottoms. I know this is an old video but since its posting what I have done is I leave it always a 1/4 pulled out during the spring season when its best to collect pollen. This way the bees are able to bring in some pollen for themselves and some still falls down into the trap for collection. This way we both get pollen all spring season long. I fully remove the pollen collector once the weather warms up too much in late spring/early summer and don't trap pollen again until the weather cools down again at night. These hives are not in my backyard but at someone elses backyard which is why I am unable to install/remove them late at night. I think these apimaye bottoms are great for the backyard beekeeper though for those who do have hives in their backyard.
@@drewbeesapiary5452 that is a smart work around a bit of both worlds the bees continue to bring in pollen for their brood and you can get some as well. Smart! 👍
It might help to prevent bees from getting squished in transition of the trap being on or off (since during the day the bees like to hang out near the entrance). Of course you would have to be there during that time of day to make the change. Not everyone has their hives near their home.
I was thinking, the piece that's over top of the board with the two screws . Remove those 2 screws and glue or fasten that piece to the tray. Now it is serving as a integral plug on tray . Now when ready pull out tray enough to clear box and now you should be able to lift tray and perhaps avoid hitting bees.
I think permanently attaching it would leave a hole in the back when you remove the trap that the included plug would not cover. The idea is a good one though. Maybe make that part a snap in/out or allow it to be rotated out of the way? I think rotating would be better but it would require a design change to make one, or both, side rounded to allow the rotation. Downside to that is moving parts tend to wear, so it might fail over time.
For the pollen trap if you pull it out just far enough that the holes aren't out and leave it would the bees not want to force themselves through the holes and tar the open path near the entrance. Basically pull it out a fourth and leave the holes in untill you put it back on.
That's an interesting idea. Let me take a look at it up close next time I am up near the hives. My guess though is that while you could do what you are stating, there would now be a second entrance in and out of the backside of the hive now. I believe when that pollen trap is pushed all the way in, it prevents bees from going in and out. I will let you know next time I check!
So I tried this out and I think it is working fine (its only been a few days)! I guess in my mind I thought you couldn't do that but glad to see your recommendation work! Thanks!
@@drewbeesapiary5452 awsome I have been wanting to add to my apiary but have limited storage so I have been looking into this. Now I know I can just toss the plugs into a bag untill I'm ready to stop collecting pollen for the season.
So long as you keep the metal away from the plastic by attached something underneath the wand (in this case I zip tied paint sticks), you shouldn't have a problem.
That is usually the best option. To me these bottom boards are great if you have them behind your house. You won't want to drive out far away to wherever some folks keep their bees and do that every night.
I mean I understand what you are saying. I think we like to look at each bee individually instead of it as part of the superorganism, being the hive. Even still I always feel guilty when I accidently squish a bee or any bees die due to something under my control. Because of this I typically still try to do my best to prevent any of them from getting squished.
@@drewbeesapiary5452 I totally get what you are saying! I don't just haphazardly muck around in my hives with no regard for killing bees, but sometimes it can be a bit much. I have worked with some hobby beekeepers that won't button up a hive until they know they will not squish a single bee with whatever they are doing and it adds significant time to their inspection which leads them to eventually stop beekeeping because "it takes too much time". There is always a reasonable middle ground to be had. I wonder if you just give it a good shake back and forth a few times before you pull it out the bees might clear most of the holes. Either that or puff the entrance with some smoke to clear them out
@@hyfy-tr2jy 100% agree. I have been guilty of taking too much time preventing squishing bees when taking things apart and putting the hives back together. It really can be time consuming especially once you start adding a bunch of hives. I agree there has to be a middle ground. I have tried doing the shaking method and it definitely helps with taking it out and preventing loss of life. Its not perfect but it help. Thanks for the watch!
Thank you for doing a review! I’m excited to try mine out next year!
I have not used Apimaye, but would it be helpful to slide the pollen trap back an inch or two in late afternoon, to allow late returning bees unrestricted access as the evening cools? Then any bees still looking for a way up through the trap might clear out. Another benefit would be that the bees get to keep that last portion of pollen collected for the day...
So I have been testing something similar over the past few days . It seems even when I partially pull the tray out to allow pollen to come in for the bees and not myself, somehow, I still am collecting pollen. It appears that even with room for the bees to go inside freely, some still find their way through the little pollen collector holes and I end up collecting pollen still. I think the only way to make it so that they keep all of the pollen is either to pull it out completely or almost the entire way out but then you have this weird plastic piece dangling out of the back...
How about if you pull it back to where the holes start and leave it there a day or so or like one of the other person said go back out at dark and finish pulling it out 🤷♂️🤷♂️. Good informative video . Thanks
Yep I have been trying that lately. It seems to be working much better than the method I was using before. Thanks for the watch!
Do you still have them? Any change, warp, rupture?
Yep they have stayed strong no issues on my end. Only warp I’ve had has been due to using an oxalic acid vaporizer which will melt the plastic near the entrance. Aside from that, very pleased with the apimaye bottoms.
It is not inevitable. You could pull it out as far as solid part and leave it until evening so they can walk up through the opening you created by pulling it back, and then slowly wiggle it out. Or you can just remove it slowly in the night when most bees are up in the hive body seen that you seem to have your bees just in your backyard. Install at nights and remove it at nights or early mornings before the girls start foraging!
I have created a workaround with these apimaye bottoms. I know this is an old video but since its posting what I have done is I leave it always a 1/4 pulled out during the spring season when its best to collect pollen. This way the bees are able to bring in some pollen for themselves and some still falls down into the trap for collection. This way we both get pollen all spring season long. I fully remove the pollen collector once the weather warms up too much in late spring/early summer and don't trap pollen again until the weather cools down again at night. These hives are not in my backyard but at someone elses backyard which is why I am unable to install/remove them late at night. I think these apimaye bottoms are great for the backyard beekeeper though for those who do have hives in their backyard.
@@drewbeesapiary5452 that is a smart work around a bit of both worlds the bees continue to bring in pollen for their brood and you can get some as well. Smart! 👍
VERY SMART..THANKS FOR THE TIP. 😁👍
Do you think collecting pollen at night would help?
It might help to prevent bees from getting squished in transition of the trap being on or off (since during the day the bees like to hang out near the entrance). Of course you would have to be there during that time of day to make the change. Not everyone has their hives near their home.
I was thinking, the piece that's over top of the board with the two screws . Remove those 2 screws and glue or fasten that piece to the tray. Now it is serving as a integral plug on tray . Now when ready pull out tray enough to clear box and now you should be able to lift tray and perhaps avoid hitting bees.
I think permanently attaching it would leave a hole in the back when you remove the trap that the included plug would not cover. The idea is a good one though. Maybe make that part a snap in/out or allow it to be rotated out of the way? I think rotating would be better but it would require a design change to make one, or both, side rounded to allow the rotation. Downside to that is moving parts tend to wear, so it might fail over time.
Just leave the screws out , You could make that the entrance If you wanted
For the pollen trap if you pull it out just far enough that the holes aren't out and leave it would the bees not want to force themselves through the holes and tar the open path near the entrance. Basically pull it out a fourth and leave the holes in untill you put it back on.
That's an interesting idea. Let me take a look at it up close next time I am up near the hives. My guess though is that while you could do what you are stating, there would now be a second entrance in and out of the backside of the hive now. I believe when that pollen trap is pushed all the way in, it prevents bees from going in and out. I will let you know next time I check!
So I tried this out and I think it is working fine (its only been a few days)! I guess in my mind I thought you couldn't do that but glad to see your recommendation work! Thanks!
@@drewbeesapiary5452 awsome I have been wanting to add to my apiary but have limited storage so I have been looking into this. Now I know I can just toss the plugs into a bag untill I'm ready to stop collecting pollen for the season.
To sort the guillotine problem out you need to smoke them from the back, through the pollen/varroa tray opening.
I would pull it at night. Or maybe try closing the front and smoking the bottom board to get the bees to move up into the hive.
was wondering if the hot wand would melt / burn the plastic during treatment...
So long as you keep the metal away from the plastic by attached something underneath the wand (in this case I zip tied paint sticks), you shouldn't have a problem.
pull the pollen screen in the morning before the bees begin foraging. It is what i do and have never incurred any bees caught in the board
What about using bee brush on top as u remove
How about removing at night when all bees are home?
That is usually the best option. To me these bottom boards are great if you have them behind your house. You won't want to drive out far away to wherever some folks keep their bees and do that every night.
Is that for a 8 frame or 10 frame box
Those are for 10 frame equipment.
Do it at night when they aren’t flying.
Remove it at night when they are all hived
In the grand scheme of things, the death of 15 bees, even 100 bees is inconsequential to the hive
I mean I understand what you are saying. I think we like to look at each bee individually instead of it as part of the superorganism, being the hive. Even still I always feel guilty when I accidently squish a bee or any bees die due to something under my control. Because of this I typically still try to do my best to prevent any of them from getting squished.
@@drewbeesapiary5452 I totally get what you are saying! I don't just haphazardly muck around in my hives with no regard for killing bees, but sometimes it can be a bit much. I have worked with some hobby beekeepers that won't button up a hive until they know they will not squish a single bee with whatever they are doing and it adds significant time to their inspection which leads them to eventually stop beekeeping because "it takes too much time". There is always a reasonable middle ground to be had. I wonder if you just give it a good shake back and forth a few times before you pull it out the bees might clear most of the holes. Either that or puff the entrance with some smoke to clear them out
@@hyfy-tr2jy 100% agree. I have been guilty of taking too much time preventing squishing bees when taking things apart and putting the hives back together. It really can be time consuming especially once you start adding a bunch of hives. I agree there has to be a middle ground. I have tried doing the shaking method and it definitely helps with taking it out and preventing loss of life. Its not perfect but it help. Thanks for the watch!
Take it out at night...