>> What is the beeway.... I am totally unfamiliar with the term in
>> relation to a top cover.
 
> If only people would read a book.  Supers welded together with extra
> comb, burr comb on the top bars and on the cover board,  all completely
> unnecessary...
 
I can't agree with you more, but just the same I must admit I was  little
puzzled by the usage of the term in the original post too.  I'm more
familiar with the term 'bee space', and would have referred to the manner
of obtaining it as a 'rim' or strips to ensure a bee space.
 
FWIW, I too have made 3/4" plywood migratory lids as described and they
were some of the nicest lids I've ever had, however they still got stuck
down sometimes and needed annual scraping.
 
Someone (was it you) astutely mentioned the cumulative size of the gap
that several match sticks placed under a lid can cause (6 square
inches?!).  Lids removed and replaced in spring and fall often have a gap
that large in spring ot fall due to warpage or chunks of propolis and wax
until the colony can re-seal them. Weaker colonies may not be able to.
 
Unless the weather is right or special care is taken, this can expose
small colonies in windy areas to stress and affect buildup. This is a main
reason many of us use a blanket of some sort on top and sacrifice bee
space there.  The other is that many of us have a wide selection of
equipment that does not scrupulously observe bee space on top and bottom
of boxes, and are not about to put in the time and effort to try to modify
all the equipment.
 
>  The answer was given to us one hundred and forty five
> years ago and it is clear from all the discussion lately that the
> message has not got through to many beekeepers.  It was given to us by a
> beekeeper  whose name is perpetuated world-wide in the Langstroth hive.
 
There is now, I believe, some doubt as to exactly who discovered this and
when.
 
> Bees will respect a space of approximately one quarter to five
> sixteenths of an inch. Less than this they will build burr comb, greater
> and they will insert cells.
 
True.  However this is not a hard and fast rule, rather it is a tendancy.
Some bees respect this principal much more strongly than others.  The
dimension is subject to opinion too.  I've heard 3/16" to 3/8".
 
Moreover, due to the shape of frames and the fact that they do not always
line up directly above one another for various reasons: levelling,
warpage, different frame counts in the super vs. the brood boxes, it may
be impossible or undesirable to maintaIin that space accurately in
commercial activity.  If anyone has trouble visualizing this, drawing a
cross-section of an 8 frame spaced box on a 10 frame box might help.  It
is clear that gaps over 3/8" occur, even if the box height is correct.
Narrow bottom bars and top bars can contribute to this problem.
 
>  Thus maintaining this gap between top bars and excluder, bottom and top
> bars of adjacent supers and finally the cover board will result in easy
> operation and little or no burr comb.
 
In a perfect world.
 
> In England hive bodies are made this much deeper than the depth of the
> combs.  The beeway can be top or bottom but the usual practice now is to
> have it at the top.  We then have a wire excluder flush underneath and
> with a quarter inch lip above to give correct clearance to the first
> super.   With bottom beeway the excluder would have to be reversed. and
> the cover board would need a lip.
 
In North America, the practice is more and more to use wire excluders with
steel edges and no rim.  Bee space is not used, since the contact on one
or both boxes encourages bees to travel through, while a space would
increase the natural initial reluctance of bees to pass.  This is
likely one of those little secrets that explain why one beekeeper (me)
will say that his bees seldom balk at an excluder, while many will say
their bees will not go through.
 
Gaps between boxes, while keeping things neat for the protestant minded
beekeeper, are not what the bees expect and 'like'.  Moreover bee space --
(or greater) -- between brood chambers and supers does, in fact, inhibit
both  the bees and the queen from moving as freely as we would like in
many cases.  Bees 'want' all the comb to be continuous.  For some reason
they often 'accept' gaps of certain sizes.  In our operation -- once one
of the best scraped outfits on the planet -- we now no longer remove
ladder comb until it becomes too serious and is crushing a significant
number of bees.
 
> It is essential that the beekeeper settles for one system or the other.
> Mixing them up is disastrous as there will be no beeway or double with
> bottom bars stuck firmly to top bars or extra comb  between.
 
IMO This is doctrine.  Real life is not quite so clear cut -- at least
around here.  Yes, things do get stuck together.  They will in any case
under the right conditions.  Bee space will certainly reduce the problem,
however many of us put up with what we have -- and do quite well.
 
> Beekeepers contemplating making hive bodies must realise that  accuracy
> of depth is vital, a quarter to five sixteenths inches more than the
> depth of the combs.
 
Amen to that.
 
Allen
 
---
You can search the BEE-L archives by sending email to
[log in to unmask] saying
SEARCH BEE-L topic
Substitute a key word or two for the word 'topic' above
Try it -- You'll Like it!
---