100% Organic Homemade Vaseline

300g bees wax 100ml liquid paraffin = vaseline you can try different grades by it mixing a bit volume wise.

I just made a 100ms / 300g and its semi soft, not as soft as traditional vaseline but still malleable enough to use on hands etc.

The Hive Mat

The Hive Mat

The purpose and importance of the Hive Mat

The hive mat plays a vital role in a beehive. The hive mat is placed on top of the frames in the top box and covers all frames.

The Hive Mat has multiple purposes:

1. It is a "building stopper" so that bees don't extend the comb from the frames to the lid. It can become very messy removing the lid when the comb extends from the frames to the lid, resulting in breaking of the comb. Nevertheless, when bees run out of space they start building comb under the lid, but with a hive mat present they cannot attach it to the frames. In such case, lifting the lid off is much easier.
2. It assists the bees to regulate the brood nest temperature and humidity.
3. It prevents condensation, building up under the lid, dripping down onto the brood and chilling it.

Hive mat size

The hive mat is cut to a size leaving a gap of 10-15 mm all around between the mat and the hive box ends and side walls, and covering the entire block of frames.
When pushing all frames together and centering them in the hive box, a gap is created between the hive side walls and the block of frames, allowing air to flow between the side walls and the block of frames for ventilation. The hive mat should not hinder the air flow.
With a correctly sized hive mat covering the top of the block of frames an inner box is created within the hive box. The outer combs forming the sides of the inner box, the side bars of all frames pushed together form the ends, the hive mat forms the lid of the inner box, only the bottom of the inner box is open for the bees. Warmth generated by the bees in this core block of frames/comb cannot escape through the top or sides.

We have seen hive mats placed as a sheet between the top box and the lid, creating a sealed cavity. There are two issues with that:

1. Hive ventilation through the lid ventilation holes is prevented.
2. Small ants and other little creatures can get in between the lid and the sealing hive mat through the ventilation holes and build their nest, undisturbed by the bees as they cannot access this created cavity.

Hive mat material

A hive mat from woven material lets drip water through and therefore defeats the purpose.
A mesh as a hive mat is unsuitable as water can drip through; bees will also close all holes with wax and propolis.
Hive mats with felt or similar "hairy" material are also not suitable as bees can get tangled in the furry material and die.
A sheet of plywood buckles due to the moisture, resulting in small cavities as good hiding places for wax moths larvae.  

We use vinyl (table cover) for the hive mat.

Hive mat maintenance

Whatever suitable hive mat you use, bees will glue it to the top of the frames with wax and/or propolis.
If not scraped off, the layer of wax/propolis gets thicker and thicker when the hive mat is removed and placed back on again after hive maintenance.
Between the rows of wax/propolis under hive mat and on top of the frames little pockets of shelter for wax moths larvae, ants, hive beetles will be generated.
To eliminate these hiding places it is important to scrape all wax/propolis off the top of the frames and from under the hive mat before putting the hive mat back on top of the frames. 

Worth a Try? The Mercer Mat
Most beekeepers insert some kind of inner cover between the top super and the hive lid. Although used overseas, inner covers or ceilings made of plywood or masonite with a rim of battens all round to provide beespace above top bars are not normally used in Australia. However, mats made of plastic, floor vinyl, carpet, hessian and other similar materials are commonly used here. Various experienced Australian beekeepers champion the use of hive mats in a variety of materials and designs. Our own Cec Mercer uses and recommends a mat of his own design. The Mercer Mat can be made easily and inexpensively by any beekeeper. It is specifically designed to provide appropriate ventilation to reduce excessive moisture in the hive, but it also useful in:

• deterring the building of burr comb in the hive lid
• encouraging the bees not to propolise ventilation holes in the lid
• assisting winter storage of empty drawn comb.

The Mercer Mat is a sheet of plastic, cut to allow air to rise on all four edges of the mat as well as up between the top bars of the central two frames of the top super. The mat for the standard 8 frame hive should be no wider than 28cm, nor longer than 43cm. The rectangular sheet is then folded into quarters and a section cut out of the folded edge such that, when the sheet is opened out, an elongated oval hole is made in the sheet. The resultant hole should be 2 to 3 cm across and 15 to 20 cm long.

Cut outs for Mercer mat

A wide variety of plastic sheeting can be used to make these mats. However, any non-absorbent sheeting that can be cut to the appropriate shape may be used. There is advantage in using a material that is easily obtainable, easily cut and cheap. The mat is laid across the top of the frames under the lid, providing a ventilation gap all around and between the middle top bars. The main principle behind the design of the Mercer Mat is that the greatest danger to the health of the colony in winter is not cold, but excessive moisture. The cluster is the effective temperature management tool of the wintering colony; but wetting of the cluster by condensation of moisture expired by the bees can greatly reduce that effectiveness. The central opening in the mat allows the colony to regulate ventilation of the winter cluster and better control humidity and temperature within the cluster. The design assumes that the hive lid is fitted with ventilation holes to the outside. The mat is also effective in minimising the development of burr comb in the hive lid. Comb will not be built in the area between the mat and the lid unless the beekeeper is slow in adding additional supers when a flow is in progress and the colony runs out of room below the mat. Bees will often block or reduce the size of ventilation holes in the hive lid with propolis; however, when the Mercer mat is used it is very rare for those ventilation holes to be even partially propolised. The mat is particularly useful when supers of extracted comb are stored on the hives over winter. Rather than treating stored empty combs throughout the winter with PDB or Phostoxin, one super of empty comb can be stored on each hive, above a mat. The bees will not occupy the stored frames in normal circumstances but, in warmer moments over the winter, will venture into the stored box and generally keep it free of wax moth. If an unexpected flow occurs in early Spring, the bees will use the stored combs if they run out of space below the mat.