Ekes

For all non-beekeepers, who have probably never heard of the word before, ekes are a hollow square of wood of any height used to make parts of the hive higher. Usually you will need them when feeding the bees. Having discovered that the contact feeder is too high to be contained within a super (why design/produce/sell a feeder that will not fit into a super?!? Or is it an issue of Langstroth against National?), I had to make two ekes. As this was during half-term, I did not have access to the brilliant DT facilities, so they have turned out more functional than anything else. But they should do the job.

The candles are not a necessary part of the building, but a clamp is.

They're very simple: pine strip wood cut down to size (two 460mm, and two 460mm - thickness of the wood). I used little blocks of wood in the corners and screwed all the parts together. Don't know whether glue would unsettle the bees - odour, chemicals and pheromones, so decided to play it safe.