Hello All,

Some good discussion on shims, excluders and ventilation.  I like both
the concept and design of the Imire shim, however there are times when I
can't get the supers off fast enough and end up with burr comb.  As
Allen mentioned it is also is one more piece of equipment to make and
sometimes break. They are still really handy especially when feeding
fondant. I have also become a strong believer in top ventilation.  I
thank Lloyd Spear for putting me on to the wood shims cut from a cedar
shingle attached right to the inner cover.

I really don't like brood in my honey supers so I try and use excluders.
Many times, however, I would end up pulling them off because on some
colonies they were becoming honey excluders.  Maybe because of bee size
as was mentioned in another post.  Last year I thought I would combine
the shingle shim and the excluder giving the bees an opening above the
excluder.  This worked well except for a few colonies that just seemed
to avoid the excluder at all cost.

This year I took it all a step further.   First I cut a large number
shims from wood shingles. They are about the size of a paint stir stick
so they don't take up much room and are easily replaced if lost or
broken.  I can slip one or two between supers anywhere to create
openings, and because of the taper I also can control the size of the
opening.  You can cut them to different lengths if you do not like the
shim to protrude out.  Because they are so easy and inexpensive to make
I just break off the extra length.  The bees seem to like having the
additional entrances and during a recent spell of hot weather I did not
notice any beards forming at the bottom board entrance.  Overall I am
pleased with this new "tool" and plan to continue using them in the
future.

I also found a way to encourage bees to more readily accept the
excluder.  My standard configuration for a brood chamber is a shallow or
medium on the bottom, a full depth above that with a medium on top.  I
was trying to phase out full depths all together but found them to be
necessary if I make nucs to sell in the Spring.  In early spring the
brood is in the top half of the full depth and the upper medium.  When
time comes to add the honey supers, and I always put mine on earlier
then needed, I ensure the queen is in the lower chamber and slip an
excluder between the top med and the full. I then place the honey supers
on top.  I shake most of the bees out of the upper med usually while
looking for the queen. As soon as everything is together they go right
back up into the medium because of the brood that is still there.  As
this brood emerges the cells are filled with honey.  The queen has ample
space below and the brood chamber does not become honey bound.  My
thought was to remove the excluder as soon as the med was full and let
the honey keep the queen down, but I have not found it necessary to do
this.  After the harvest, the excluder is removed and the bees are
guaranteed one medium for their winter stores and anything else they
would like to put below.   The method may not be 100% but it seems to be
working well and I have not had any swarms. I got the idea when
producing comb honey.  The only difference there is I usually remove the
medium and use it to start another colony and then place the Ross Round
supers (which almost acts as a QE) above the full depth.  The queen
rarely goes in the comb super.

As I said it seems to be working and I will try it again next year.

One other suggestion.  Don't have kids.  If you can't avoid that, don't
have daughters.  If you still can't avoid that don't let them get
married at the same time of EAS.

   Ron

Ron Bogansky
Kutztown, (eastern) PA, USA

   Ron

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