Donated unused equipment of 2006-09-01 From P.E. Hallett
1. Total supplied
20 hive bodies, either yellow or blue.
1000 nest blocks (600 black, 400 coloured).
When the blocks in a hive are suitably mixed the ensemble provides nest orientation cues for females. The majority black block faces provide early morning insolation for east facing hives.
2. Block bore size distribution
Letter in spreadsheets / # bores per block / borewidth / # blocks supplied per hive body / Total blocks suppliedmm. / in.
Z / 8 / 3.2 / 1/8 / 0 / 0
A / 7 / 4.8 / 3/16 / 20 / 400
B / 6 / 6.4 / 1/4 / 10 / 200
C / 5 / 8.0 / 5/16 / 10 / 200
D / 4 / 9.6 / 3/8 / 10 / 200
Total: / 50 / 200
A hive body takes 50 ZAB or 35 CD blocks in 5 stacks. The 50 blocks supplied per hive body are too many to fit into one hive body.
A problem for storekeeping is whether to issue in units of 1 hive body plus a standard mix 50 nest blocks, for easy book keeping, or to issue block mixes as requested.
Any concern about having enough blocks of particular borewidths will be largely eased in a few years when I expect to donate many blocks stored at home (few Z blocks), or when my fielded hive bodies become too decrepid there will be an even larger number of blocks available (including Z blocks).
3. Other necessary supplies
Greased Poles, 4 per stand. Cut metal fence rail or water piping to about 5 ft and hammer into ground until above waist height to prevent porcupine climbing up. Brush on medicinal paraffin. A pole hammer can be made by welding a piece of plate across a cast iron pipe.
Slatted platform Spruce strapping weathers well. Use a farm gate construction (perpendicular and diagonal pieces).
Masonite paddles See end of 5.2.
Small brush, preferably about a nest block wide.
4. Cleaning
Emerged or diseased parts of nests should be scraped out on inspections in the interest of cleanliness and simple interpretable nests. Steel pin punches are very suitable for this and when in the field these can be stored with their tips in drugstore hydrogen peroxide. The sharpness of the edges can be restored every several weeks with a metal file.
Lee Valley catalogue 33Y02.01 Pin punches/tool blanks, set of 5 (Check that all are different).
The hive bodies also need occasionally brushing to remove dirt.
5. Rigid or flexible lids?
The nest blocks are supplied as ‘observation nest blocks’ with transparent acrylic lids and screws. These are best for simple observation, handling, transport, teaching or short term research. However, the rigidity allows penetration of the eulophid pest Melittobia chalybii in all directions across the nest block. So I have gradually changed over to using clamped stacks and flexible lids, each lid being a sheet of polythene and a sheet of sponge (‘production nest blocks’). Pests within a nest block are now restricted to much slower movement up or down the bore. A penalty is that it is now more convenient to transport loaded hive bodies than single blocks. Also, because the lids are generally thicker, the number of production nest blocks in a stack is often 1 less than the number of observation blocks.
5.1 Supplies to retrofit 20 hive bodies to take production nest blocks
2 rolls clear polyethylene (Home Depot): 150 um thick in rolls 12in wide by 300ft long (e.g., Polytarp products, Downsview).
I laboriously cut this to the size of a nest block (3.5in by 6.75in). It would be much better to specially order rolls of 3.5in wide highly transparent plastic (bromethylene?).
4 rolls gasket (Home Depot): Owens Corning Foam SealR gasket (comes 3.5in by 82ft rolls).
100 Tee nuts (Jacobs Hardware, Queen St): 1/4 by 5/16 (1/4 by 20 threads)
100 Cup point socket set screws (Jacobs Hardware, Queen St): 1/4 by 3/4in or 1in (1/4 by 20 threads)
20 Allen keys to fit set screws (Jacobs Hardware, Queen St) Choose long ones and paint stems white or bright yellow to make finding them in the grass easier.
5.2 Retrofitting
Mark out the 5 stack centres on the roof on the hive body. Drill at appropriately over 1/4in into a piece of waste wood clamped tightly under the roof to reduce tear out. Thread a 1/4 x 20 bolt through a washer, the roof, a tee nut, washer and nut. Use a pair of wrenches to pull the Tee nut up and sink it into place.
Cut 1/8in, 3/16in or 1/4in masonite paddles either longer than or roughly equal to a nest block. Place a thicker longer one under every one or two stacks in a hive to allow easy removal of a selected stack. Place one or more roughly sized ones on top of every stack, under the set screw, to receive the force of the set screw. Clamp the stack gently, but sufficiently that the blocks do not move easily.
6. Reference
Hallett PE (2001) Building hives and observation nest blocks for solitary bees and wasps American Bee Journal (June) 441-444. (includes plans and simple jigs)
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