Many suggestions for clearing on the Bee list lately.  Fume boards that
require hot weather and one super at a time, compressed air which requires
electricity on site or a special machine, brushing the combs one at a time
(and how that infuriates bees) and finally standing the super on the hive
and waiting several hours for the bees to leave it.  I would advise
inexperienced beekeepers to ignore the last mentioned.  Admittedly bees are
not interested in free gifts of honey when there is a nectar flow on and the
writer wisely advised caution. With more than one hive on site if things
went wrong all hell would be let loose.
In 1891 W L Porter, a respected American beekeeper, introduced the bee
escape, a simple one way device, for clearing supers. This has stood the
test of time and now has many imitators.   I have used his escapes all my
life and consider it an ideal method for the small scale beekeeper.  Some
criticise it because it needs two visits to the hive.  The first is a matter
of minutes with little disturbance and the second even quicker and no
disturbance at all.  All the supers can be dealt with at one time and
cleared in twelve to twenty four hours.  Compare this with the fuss and
risks of the methods mentioned above.
There are a few points to consider.  Make your own clearer boards, using two
or three escapes per board.  Fit a one inch lip top and bottom to ensure
clearance.. Make suitable slots to take the escapes from above or simpler,
drill one inch holes and pin the escape from below.  Bees will not desert
brood so if the queen has been wandering in the supers the escapes will not
work.  Moreover drones can block the springs.  In a well-ordered hive, queen
below the excluder and nothing but honey in the supers the system works
perfectly.  Take off the supers as soon as they are cleared.  Once the bees
are gone the honey is unguarded and robbers will quickly take advantage of
any small gap or an ill-fitting roof.  Within two days they will bave
extracted the honey for you.                                       Sid P.
_________________________________________________________________
Sid Pullinger                    Email :  [log in to unmask]
36, Grange Rd                Compuserve:  [log in to unmask]
Alresford
Hants SO24 9HF
England