Pros/Cons of 2nd Brood Box in coastal Southern California

The next model will have a larger main pipe and maybe a little more slope!

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I apologize. That was partly an in-joke to @chau06… He knows a lot about brain surgery.

:brain:

But it seems that he also dabbles in rocket science! Maybe Elon and the russian lunar lander team could learn from him??? :rofl:

:rocket:

:new_moon:

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Just keep in mind on these closed manifold harvesting methods, that you really need to have an outlet for air to escape from otherwise it only has one place to go and thats back up into the hive. You can get a pretty visual of this if you put a funnel over a narrow opening jar and start pouring in honey. Fill the funnel completely and you will see a large bubble of air pop up through the honey as the jar fills, even if there is a small gap around the edge where the funnel and the opening meet. This is also going to increase the amount of time it takes for the honey to drain. As the air pressure is going to build. Having around the same size outlet for air to escape as there is for honey to get in would be best. With the intention being to avoid bees getting to the honey, and being able to leave it unattended. put some gauze or a fly screen mesh over the opening.

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Hello flatmargo, I usually harvest 2-3 frames at a time here in the Bay Area, I went to the hardware store with my flow spout, got two inexpensive plumbing sink drains (white) and cut a hole thru a cleaned food container… these can be reused and solve the problem… I use blue painters tape to assist the hold but you can snug it to the jar. It’s also easy to swap out full jar with empty…

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Thanks! I ended up getting some food grade flexible pipes and taped that to a hole in a ball jar lid. Worked a lot better. What I discovered though is that I actually had to replace that queen with a domesticated one. That hive was a group of bees who were originally wild and had moved in. They were 11/10 in aggressiveness. Eventually I had to replace their genetics because they would actually try to mob me every time I opened the hive. I’ve been beekeeping for a few years, but never ever experienced anything like it. My mentor who came over to help me find the queen also had never seen anything like it. I have high hopes for this year. New queen, new bees, new year! Thanks again for your response

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I’m not sure I really follow your logic.

A funnel into a closed jar is quite different (especially if there isn’t a lot of space around the neck of the funnel). The manifold, while there is no significant open space between the flow tubes and the end of the discharge hose, empties into an open bucket (free escape of air) so it is not really closed. If honey should completely fill the discharge tubing from the manifold to the bucket, this would likely create a suction/siphon which would pull air in from proximally in the system. Also, the flow frames allow air to enter through uncapped cells or cell caps that have cracked or been disrupted. Nevertheless, I open the frames in increments so the manifold, and each individual frame’s flow tube, never gets completely filled with flowing honey.

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