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Subject:
From:
Nick Wallingford <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Discussion of Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 7 Dec 1996 13:33:39 +1100
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> Why do the Australians use covers
> with the same outside dimensions as the hive bodies, a couple of inches
> deep, and which do not telescope down on the edges?  I've seen that they
> lay a mat over the frames, and set the lid on top. It typically has
> ventilation holes, too.Yet it doesn't appear that the lid is fixed or
> anchored to the hive.  Don't they just blow off?  Or get knocked off?  Do
> they get all clogged up with comb during a honey flow?
>
> (The simple migratory (board) lids used here -by some- usually telescope a
> tiny bit front and back.  This doesn't waste much space on a truck, as the
> bottom boards also jut out a bit from the hive front.)
 
My guess is that the main factors are (1) wind (2) rain and (3)
migration?  Here in NZ, most areas of the country probably have more
wind than Oz (maybe?).  At any rate, as well as a telescoping lid
(often with quite deep sides) the hives almost always have bloody
great rocks on top of them!  'Older' hives often have mats (cut
pieces of sacking, which get utterly matted and propolised to the
frame tops, requiring a ripping loose each time!)
 
Now, there is a 'magic number' for the lid overhang which can make it
almost impossible for the wind alone to blow the lid off.  With
narrow overhang, the lid can readily get swept off.  But make it a
bit more and the lid must come up from both ends (it can't just be
lifted from one end or edge.  Has to do with the triangle formed by
the lid internal length and the depth of the overhang.
 
There are other lids in common use in NZ, mostly for specific
pollination.  No overhangs as you've described for Australian lids
and front and back only (note: only down, not both up and down as
with some American style lids).
 
Biggest difference between NZ and US equipment (not sure about Oz) is
where the bee space is for the boxes.  In NZ, our beespace is below
the frames in the box.  That is, the top of the top bars is only 1mm
from the top of the box itself.  Means less rebate => less likely to
break off, especially if rebate is deep enough for metal strips etc,
though these are not used commercially much.
 
  (\      Nick Wallingford
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NZ Beekeeping http://www.wave.co.nz/pages/nickw/nzbkpg.htm

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