Beekeeping brings a great sense of peace and satisfaction to many passionate beekeepers. It takes us away from the hustle and bustle of modern life, casting our focus on the gentle buzz of bees as they tend to their honeycombs. With beekeeping, however, it is important not to overlook safety precautions – one such tool is an escape screen which can be used when you open your colony boxes for inspection or maintenance. So what exactly is a beekeeper’s escape screen?
This blog post will explore its purpose, benefits, and application within apiary management practices. Read on to discover how this simple yet effective tool will help make your beekeeping experience safer for yourself and your bees!
What is the purpose of a bee escape?
Bee escapes are an essential tool for anyone looking to harvest honeybees without disruption. They are frames composed of two different types of mesh openings allowing both workers and drones – the male honey bees – to escape from a honey super.
The purpose of a bee escape is to efficiently and effectively detach the target frame or cutout from the remaining frames so that time can be saved from opening each frame. Bee escapes make it easier for beekeepers to gather their products without damaging the hive. This allows for simple harvesting processes that can help minimize any damage or disruption done to the bees in their hives.
How do you use the bee escape screen?
Using a bee escape screen is an effective way to help honeybees leave their hive in the desired direction. This simple tool consists of a thin mesh that covers the entrance of the hive. Providing extra ventilation, the screen will draw out only the foragers and allow them to fly out but not back into the hive.
To use this screen, you must take off the inner cover as it keeps bees on top of frames and away from you. Once removed, place your bee escape over the open entrance and secure both sides with two nails or clips. Two days later, turn around and remove your bee escape from the other side, leaving behind all those forager bees who are now searching for food elsewhere.
Though some residue may be left in the hive due to air disturbances created by departing bees, these effects are minimal compared to using chemicals or other treatments.
How do you make a bee escape?
To make a bee escape, you need to start by understanding why it entered your house in the first place. Usually, bees will seek out a home if they can sense an available space with a nectar source nearby. Then, the best way to safely move the bee from your home is by carefully removing potential landing spots and creating an exit path with a lighted vacuum.
Place the vacuum near the nest or hive and open all windows or doors as far away from the bees as possible. Once this has been done, turn on and off the vacuum several times to entice them to fly away from the plane of suction it creates. The bee should eventually find its way out of your home and away from where it was foraging for food!
How do you place a bee escape in a hive?
Placing a bee escape in a hive is an important part of setting up successful honey harvesting. The bee escape is essentially a one-way tunnel, used to facilitate the hives’ evacuation of only the worker bees – keeping the queen, drones, and larvae inside.
To start, you must first attach your bee escape to the top of the inner cover using screws or nails. Once that is complete, you can move on to positioning by lifting off the hive lid and gently sliding in the bee escape with its opening facing down towards the frames. Bee excluders should be left open for 2-3 days so bees can easily travel from the topmost box to the lower one.
After this period, you can close it off for honey harvesting until there are no more live bees in sight!
What is a bee follower board?
Bee follower boards, or honey boards as they are sometimes called, are an incredibly useful tool for beekeepers. They allow a keeper to monitor their hives without having to disturb the bees.
A board is placed over a hive and has an opening in the middle. When the honey production season starts, a follower piece of comb is placed over the opening on the board. As time passes, the bees will draw out more wax from the comb and expand it beyond the edges of the board – this is known as ‘bearding’ and it indicates that there is additional space within the hive which means more honey can be produced!
The beekeeper can then take off any surplus comb with no disruption to the bees. The use of follower boards makes beekeeping much easier while helping protect our precious bee populations.
Final Impressions: What is a beekeeping escape screen?
As you can see, the beekeeping escape screen is an innovative and beneficial way for beekeepers to remove honey bees from the honey supers. It is one of many options available to ensure that the hive remains healthy throughout the harvesting process.
By using this type of device, beekeepers have access to the honeycombs without putting themselves or their hives in danger. Beekeeping escape screens provide a cost-effective, simple solution to a problem that has plagued beekeepers for years.
For those looking to give their hives the best possible chance at harvesting honey while staying safe, beekeeping escape screens are worth considering!
