Bee brush
Nylon
Bindaree wiring board
Hand-crafted unique design, gets tension by putting slight pressure on top and bottom bars. Designed for full depth frames but can be adapted for WSP, ideal or half-depth frames.
Embedder – electric
Connects to 12 volt car battery or transformer. Melts wire into wax.
Embedding board
Bindaree
Frame making kit
Making frames is the Zen of beekeeping. If you plan on using a lot you should consider doing them yourself. Although you’ll need to buy a few extra bits of equipment and supplies, you’ll save money in the long-run. This frame making kit includes all the items you’ll need plus enough frames and foundations to make 20 frames. Items can be purchased separately as well.
| Item | Description | Cost |
| Wiring board | Easily threads and tensions wire | $79 |
| Embedder | Melts wire into foundations using 12v car battery | $49 |
| Embedding board | Placed under frame, holds foundations to wire | $5 |
| Wire | Stainless steel frame wire, 500g | $37 |
| Eyelets | Brass, packet of 500 | $12.50 |
| Nails | Top, bottom, side and tacks | $10 |
| Frames | Timber, x20 | $40 |
| Foundations | Beeswax x20 | $30 |
| Total | Less 5% discount | $249 |
Hive tool
The hive tool is an essential item for beekeeping. There are two types: Australian and US. Actually both of these are made in the US.
Metal sieve honey strainer
1/8″ or 1/16″ galvanised screen, fits 34 kg bucket
Nytrel Gauze
1/4 square metre. The fineness of the weave is between 375 and 400 microns
Queen catcher
Plastic
Queen cells
Plastic
Queen grafting tool
Simple
Smoker
4″ stainless steel, made in Australia. Choice of sizes, standard, jumbo.
More Details
Bees and Smoke From: T & M Weatherhead Date: Sunday, 9 February 2003 5:15 PM Whilst working my cell builders this morning, I got to thinking about smoke and bees. Bee-L has had a lot of discussion on what fuel to use in the smoker but why does it work? I have heard the old story we tell young children of how smoke makes the bees think it is a bush fire and they gore honey, are full and cannot move properly and hence are quiet. Most logical is that smoke disrupts the pheromone communication within the hive by the bees. But then we use all sorts of fuel in our smokers so it would seem that it does not matter what the source of the smoke is but that it is smoke. So can we use something that will stir the bees up enough so as to overcome the disruptive nature of the pheromone communication? Trevor Weatherhead AUSTRALIA From: Peter Borst Date: Monday, 10 February 2003 1:15 AM Greetings Having worked with bees for almost 30 years, I have reached the following conslusion: Smoke intoxicates the honey bee. The symptoms appear very similar to alcohol intoxication in humans. Sure, it affects communication, but I think this is a secondary effect due to their fuzzied responses. I think the primary effect is that it dulls their awareness, which accounts for the lack of defensive response — and lowers their inhibitions, which causes them to gorge on honey. Normally the bees protect the hive and its honey stores with great vigilance, except when it’s very warm and they are on a serious honey flow. Then, they seem to be too concerned about their work too worry about anything else. But what about drumming? I wonder how THAT works? (for anyone who does not know it, if you drum rhythmically on a hive they will eventually pour out of it)
Uncapping tools
Choose comb scratcher or uncapping fork. Non-electric, mechanically uncaps frames.
