Kiwi Bee 587 Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 I'll not use second hand staples. I forgot who posted about the folded staples(no sewing). I plan to use that too soon in 4 layers. Maybe 1 office staple at the closing end. Did anybody ordered recently GL from Clark? In Feb-Mar I called them to guide me how to order/pay online and a lady told me that they don't have that option and she took my details to pass them on to the sales team. Never heard from them since. Last week I called them again and a gentleman told me to write them an enquiry(they have that option on their website) and they'll send me an invoice and how to pay. Haven't heard from them for a week. Is there a particular name I should try to get in touch with? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alastair 8,474 Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 Sounds weird, I have ordered from them and paid online many times, for years, they have always been very efficient. Not sure just who to talk to, but when you call, say something like - I want to buy Glycerin, please put me through to the right person to talk to about that. If you don't have an email with invoice from them by next day call again. 1 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kiwi Bee 587 Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 Managed to get in touch with the right man at Clark. The GL is out of stock, so I'm on the waiting list. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alastair 8,474 Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 Just check how long that waiting list is, if it's coming on a ship you could be in for a long wait. There are other suppliers, but dearer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alastair 8,474 Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 Actually Kiwibee, I see we are both in Auckland. If they are not able to supply in a reasonable time frame you can get some from me, the deal being pick up only, and you replace it to me once you can. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Otto 758 Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 @Kiwi Bee You could try Farm source. That is the glycerine I use and I am happy with the job it is doing. https://store.nzfarmsource.co.nz/catalog/ecolab-glycerine-5l/212374 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kiwi Bee 587 Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 Thank you @Otto and @Alastair. They said it'll be 2 weeks. I'll get in touch @Alastairif there will be further delay in supply. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Popular Post Alastair 8,474 Posted August 22 Popular Post Share Posted August 22 Just been to a hobbyist friend with a dozen or so hives to do his COI. The hives were looking good and he commented he has never seen them looking so good at this time of year. Found one only mite in the cracked drone brood we opened up. He reminded me that last autumn I gave him some spare OA strips, he was not sure what to do with them so he ended up after he pulled his synthetics, he put one OA strip in centre broodnest of each hive, and a few hives got 2 strips. His hives are mostly double brood box, the strips stayed in all winter. None of the hives were in poor shape or badly affected. Might try it myself next autumn. 2 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Popular Post M4tt 4,940 Posted August 24 Popular Post Share Posted August 24 Hives all checked for the second time . First was about 4 weeks ago when I pulled and replaced the OAstaples I have to say they are looking good . I saw one varroa in drone brood in one hive between boxes . The DWV has completely gone in those that has it and everything is building fast . There are more than a few mature drones in some hives . Some hives temperament has deteriorated with supercedure queens . On fine days they are bringing in a reasonable amount of silver dollar gum nectar . 5 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kiwi Bee 587 Posted September 6 Share Posted September 6 I got finished my first round of staples this season. For how long do you guys dry your staples for? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CHCHPaul 467 Posted September 6 Share Posted September 6 @Kiwi Bee nice drying rack! They don’t really ‘dry’, as in evaporate, in fact, they’ll absorb moisture from the air. So, just drip dry thrm for a short while. And if they’re not ‘dry’, drag thrm through a rag to get the surface ‘not wet’! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alastair 8,474 Posted September 6 Share Posted September 6 Agree with that. In fact in Auckland humidity I would be very reluctant to hang them out like that, I'd sooner just scrape them then re pack. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kiwi Bee 587 Posted September 7 Share Posted September 7 The staples got a bit drier(nothing sticky) and today's weather was awesome too, so all went into the hives. No drone brood to open and check for mites. No mite test either. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisM 1,227 Posted September 10 Share Posted September 10 On 6/09/2020 at 1:52 PM, Kiwi Bee said: For how long do you guys dry your staples for? I mix up 25g of solution for every 12g of tape. This doesn't generate any surplus. I keep the lid on the bucket but not clicked down all around and I tilt the bucket on a skirting board, rotating it 90 degrees whenever going past it. When 48 hours it is all soaked in. I turn them over so bottom ones at top and vice versa. After ~5 days they can start to go in hives and are 'dry'. So, I don't do this drying step and don't need to. I'm not even sure that glycerine does 'dry'. It is more a draining step? If you have a lot of surplus solution and then end up drying/draining the amount of solution on each tape could be quite variable and a high volume of material on the surface could head towards a high dose - flash treatment. But since I've never tried a surplus mix and draining, so I can't criticise something I've never tried. I know that when Phil was doing this with 450 strips in a bucket or whatever it is, he included a small surplus, but with that many packed in there, there is no space for a surface layer. Leaving them on the dry rack must allow moisture to be absorbed at the same time as surplus solution can drain off. At the end of the day it just seems like extra work and far quicker to put in the right amount of gizz in the first place. (?). 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kiwi Bee 587 Posted September 12 Share Posted September 12 @ChrisMyou are right with the process you use. This time I was lucky because the weather was not too bad and there was not too much moisture. I think the key is to NOT have sticky staples and this is what I got. Dry-ish surface while you can feel the mix inside the staples. A couple of years ago when I made my first staples I used Phil's recommendation to press the mix out of the staples. With that method the surface of the staples were still wet(not that sticky but still wet and less mix per staple). With my method I ended up with few extra staples(I didn't measure the mix per staple. I just made enough mix for my requirements plus a bit of extra) but I'll use those within few weeks as we all know the bees will chew them fast in the spring. PS - there was a very minimal dripping(non significant) from the staples while they were on the rack. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ikwezinz 96 Posted October 10 Author Share Posted October 10 Anyone found they have had queen losses after introducing new strips, I have had two fairly strong hives go queenless on me and the only change was new strips 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisM 1,227 Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 Yes two of them. I was/am undecided what was the cause. But your post makes it harder. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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