The terms "Clearer" Board and "Escape" board are used interchangeably on this page and other pages on this site that deal with escapes.

It is much easier for the beekeeper to remove the honey crop if the density of bees in the supers is reduced.

Some people expect the supers to be completely free of bees... Whilst this can be achieved it takes longer and requires more than one visit to the apiary.

I have always worked on the principle that the method should only involve one visit and should not involve a "waiting" period.

All the escapes listed at left with the exception of Porter, Portcullis, John Cox Round, Switchable, and Crowther Escapes are variations on the "Canadian" Clearer Board principle.

In my particular case I had apiaries with between 12 and 40 colonies. Those apiaries that had large numbers contained various colonies that were used for breeding or were developing colonies that had no surplus. There was never more than about 30 to deal with at once. Most of my clearer boards were of the eight way escape type with a rim on the underside of about 60 mm (for clustering space).

Specific dimensions for the boards themselves are not given as this will depend on the type of hive in use and whether top or bottom bee space has been adopted. General construction is a sheet of 9 mm exterior grade plywood with overall dimensions the same as the hive with a 9  mm x 22 mm rim on top and a rim underneath that can be anything from 9 mm to 75 mm deep.

A tip I received from Matthew Allan... Is to make the top rim 22 mm x 22 mm as this allows the bees to "run around" without bumping into bits of brace comb and climbing upwards instead of heading in the stampede direction.

I usually give the wooden parts a coat of linseed oil (there is no need to "Vaseline" the rim as the board will not be in position more than an hour or so).