Kate Henderson ([log in to unmask]) asked about alternatives to the
abandonment method and fume boards, and specifically mentioned triangular
escape boards.  Judging by her email address, I'm guessing Kate lives in the
Catskill Mountains, where I would be wary of the abandonment method at this
time of year, as it is likely to start robbing, especially if the abandoned
supers are left for days.  Kate shared this concern.  I base this on my
experiences in the Saratoga area of New York (about 100 miles north of the
Catskills).

As far as the triangular escape boards go, my recommendation is to get more
of them.  Place an empty super near the hive (I would advise against a
pickup parked 50 feet away) and then place the bottom escape board
perpendicular on the empty super, triangular side down.  Stack your honey
supers on top of the escape board, and cap the stack off with an escape
board, triangular side up.  Make ABSOLUTELY sure to seal any spaces between
supers and supers and escape boards. Escape boards work great with tight
equipment, they are a disaster with leaky equipment.  Remember the duct
tape!  The bees can now exit via either the top OR the bottom escape board,
and return to their hive (hence the recommendation to stack the supers close
to their hive).  On a good foraging day I have seen supers vacated in only a
few hours using this method.  I have also seen stubborn bees stay days using
this method, but that is rare.  In such cases (no, sealed brood was NOT
involved, the bees just didn't leave for reasons unknown to me) I had to
resort to brushing the remaining bees from the supers.  I have never tried
combining stacks of supers from different hives and would advise against it.
I suspect the bees would fight at the exits and clog the escape boards.  If
you plan to leave the stacked supers for "days" make sure they are protected
from sun (without bees to regulate temperatures you need to be concerned
about overheating and menting combs) and be sure to protect against rain
(rain will fall through the center hole of the escape borad).

Aaron Morris - thinking escape boards; great when they work, bane when they
don't!

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