Clearing bees from the last supers in cool weather — Porter escapes, fume board or blower, and how long does it take?
Devon, fourth year, six colonies. The last supers need to come off this week before the ivy gets going and the bees start crossing back up with it. Trouble is the weather has turned: 15-16°C by day, rain most afternoons.
In August I clear with Porter escapes in a crown board and 24 hours does it. Last September in the cold I left them 48 hours and still had a few hundred bees in every super, plus wasps had found a way in above the escape. A friend has a fume board and a bottle of the almond-smelling stuff but says it needs sun to work, which we don't have. I could borrow a bee blower but I'm nervous about blasting cold bees onto wet grass.
I run excluders, so no brood up there. What do you use in cool weather, and honestly how long does each take?
#harvest#bee-escape#clearer-board#fume-board
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3 replies
PerthshireBees · Sep 18, 2026
Nearly all my clearing is done in cool weather in Perthshire, so: Porter escapes work but the little springs get propolised and stuck — set them at about 3 mm and check every one before use, a single stuck escape lets the whole super refill. In the cold I switched to a rhombus / 8-way escape board and it clears overnight, no springs. Put it on mid-afternoon, take the super off first thing next morning before the wasps are flying, and seal any gap under the roof with tape. 15°C is not too cold for any of it.
CorkBeeRon · Sep 18, 2026
Fume boards in Irish weather are a waste of a good bottle, save your money. For six hives I'd use an escape board like PerthshireBees says, and for the last stragglers a quick shake-and-brush at the entrance into an empty super under a cloth. The blower works fine in cool weather too, bees fall to the grass in front and walk in, but I wouldn't do it below about 12°C or on soaked ground. Whatever you do, work fast — every open super in September is an invitation.
DrentseBij · Sep 18, 2026
Drenthe, same weather as yours. Escape board with a rhombus, 24 hours, and if bees remain it is always one of two things: brood up there (not your case) or a second way in. Cool nights actually help — the bees go down toward the warmth of the brood nest after dark and don't want to come back up. Put the escape on in the late afternoon, not the morning.