Bee Quick was not quick (but if you do it right it works GREAT!!)

[James Henderson]

Tried harvesting today. Put triangle escape board below the lower of the two mediums that were full of white capped frames and Bee-O-Pac frames.

Removed inner and outer cover.
Heated up fume board in sun, applied Bee Quick and put it on top of upper medium after smoking super.

Checked upper super every 10 minutes for at least 40 minutes, but it was like the bees were just giving me the finger and refused to vacate the top super.

Resorted to method of removing one frame at a time and brushing the bees off, then carrying each frame, on at a time, into the honey processing room. Only got frames in half of one super removed before darkness began to set in.

Any suggestions on what I may have been doing wrong? Maybe the bees are just more stubborn than I am. I used just shy of a quarter bottle of bee quick on the fume board.

The front of my house has a lovely black cherry smell....and so do I now. If I sniffed some of the bees, I would imagine they would too, but then I would probably get a buzz.

[ July 04, 2006, 06:31 PM: Message edited by: James Henderson ]

[BjornBee]

Take the escape off. Thats what the beequick does, takes the place of the triangle escape. They probably are confused and are banging thier heads trying to flee the smell.

If your supers are full, and by full I mean completely capped, the bees should move down within a minute or two.

I also find that if you smoke prior to putting the beequick on, the bees are occupied trying to gourge themselves, and sometimes are harder to get moving with the fume board. Not only do the bees think it smells like crap, but now a fire is on the way also. Boy, what a bad day! Next time just pop the top open and place the fume board on, and they will move better without the smoke. And if you have any open cells in the supers, you are going to have bees trying to gourge themselves in those cells, and they will not move. With all capped supers, they move to where they can find open cells to gouge themselves and get ready to flee if need be.

Many times if bees do not move out of the super right away, it means you have open cells of nectar. That, or you have blocked the escape route with a triangle escape.... tongue.gif

[James Henderson]

Mucho gracias BjornBee.

I thought I was the only one up at this hour.

Anywho, I thought the triangle escape board may be the problem but was not sure. In the morning I'll see if they have left the super via the board. If not, I'll remove it and just use Bee Quick and Fume board.

All cells are completely capped, however when I inspected a few, I broke apart the comb the bees built connecting the upper and lower supers. Still may have to employ bee brush for remaining bees.

[Michael Bush]

As Bjorn has pointed out, bee escapes and fume boards are mutually exclusive methods. They don't go together.

[beegee]

I don't even own a bee escape of any kind. I use Bee-Quick. It's not as quick as Bee-Go but it doesn't smell as bad as Bee-Go. After applying the fume board for a few minutes, I use a gas-powered blower to remove the stragglers and then set the supers on a plywood blank(same size as the bee-box) with another plywood blank on top of the stack to discourage robbing.

[peggjam]

It also works better in full sunlight, than in the shade.

[livetrappingbymatt]

has anyone used the air boards? with ny weather we get more wind than sun! they seem to work well.
bob

[Jim Fischer]

Yeah, an escape board will simply get in the way
and block the fumes. More to the point, it will
slow the bees down, as they must figure out a way
through the escape board.

Sorry, never thought to add "don't use an escape
board" to the instructions. I guess I should.

The "air boards" (we call them "breeze boards")
are, in my view, far superior to fume boards,
but they have not gained much of a following,
as fume boards are sold everywhere, and the
only dealer I have convinced to make/sell
breeze boards is Brushy Mountain.

[Fuzzy]

Mr. Henderson,
You work too hard. You already pulled the supers, then you put them back where they were. Insead, put them in a stack elsewhere with a solid bottom and put the triangle board on top. Come back in a few hours -- no bees.

If you really want to use the bee quick, it works quite well, even though I don't use as directed. I put a spoonful on some burlap, put the
burlap into an unlit smoker, and puff it into the
hive top. You can literally watch the bees move down in 20-30 seconds. Done, lift the super off. Do the next one. Doesn't have to be hot out either.

Fuzzy

[Jim Fischer]

> bee quick, it works quite well, even though
> I don't use as directed.

> I put a spoonful on some burlap, put the
> burlap into an unlit smoker, and puff it
> into the hive top. You can literally watch the
> bees move down in 20-30 seconds. Done, lift the
> super off. Do the next one. Doesn't have to be
> hot out either.

Wow, I'm going to have to try that approach,
and take some photos for the website!

Fuzzy, what's your actual name, so you can
be given credit for the idea?

[Fuzzy]

Dear Jim,

The actual name is Jim Campbell.
Most folks just know me as Fuzzy.
No one else in the company ever gets my email by mistake.
No one ever claims a restraunt reservation for "Fuzzy"

Fuzzy

[Sundance]

Fuzzy that sounds like a much easier
approach than breeze boards or fume
boards. I am going to have to take a
swing at that as well.

Do you puff it into the top of the
super and replace the top?? Like a
shot a smoke??

Jim..... this guy deserves a bottle
of Bee Quick.. ;)

[BULLSEYE BILL]

>I put a spoonful on some burlap, put the
burlap into an unlit smoker, and puff it into the
hive top.

I was looking for a use for my smoker, now if I can only find it. smile.gif

[Dick Allen]

>I put a spoonful on some burlap, put the
burlap into an unlit smoker, and puff it into the
hive top.

Wouldn't that be an "off-label" use? smile.gif

[Dan Williamson]

>>I put a spoonful on some burlap, put the
burlap into an unlit smoker, and puff it into the
hive top.

Now why can't I think of these things. I'm brain-dead when it comes to creativity.

I guess I'll just keep on using everyone else's great ideas. smile.gif

[James Henderson]

Thanks Jim and everyone else,

The next day I just used the Bee Quick on the fume board (without) the triangle board and the critters left the supers lickity split.

I just wish moving hives was this easy. Actually a couple of bees did give me the finger and stay in a super or two, but once they flew into the extraction room from out of the super, I caught each one in a paper towel and realeased them outside.

Yes, many people say I do work to hard. Sunday I fly back to southwestern Arizona on business for another month of working 15 hours a day, 7 days per week....of course I am 40 hours per week salary!!!!

But hey, I get to work on my farmer's tan in the 115 degree heat.

[FordGuy]

Mr. Fischer, I don't know what an air board is? do you have pics?

[Jim Fischer]

> I don't know what an air board is? do you have pics?

Sure:

http://www.bee-quick.com/use.html

[Beemaninsa]

So Mr. Fischer when are you going to invent a battery heated fume board? Perhaps with a built in fan? :eek:

[Chef Isaac]

Jim f. I have been wondering that too. I have a friend who has "made" one and it works nicely when it is overcast.

I do like the useo f bee quick in the smoker.

[Jim Fischer]

I dont need to invent a battery-operated fan board,
as a guy in Ohio makes and sells them now.

[Sundance]

A fan board would be easy and
inexpensive to make. CPU fans
run on 12V DC and are available
for $5.00 or less. Out here with
our wind we don't have to make
any though.

[Keith Benson]

Who is this Ohio guy?

Keith

[Beemaninsa]

A fume board with Heater And Fan for those cold cloudy mornings might be nice. When not in use I could use it in conjunction with Bee Quick in my truck cab as a scent applicator. Oh well I guess I will go read the other tread about Avacado sex.

[Chef Isaac]

Who is the ohio guy??

[iddee]

I tried the bee-quick on burlap in the smoker today. It worked great.

[Jim Fischer]

> Who is the ohio guy??

Tim Arheit
Honey Run Apiaries
330 Sunderland Road
Delphos, OH 45833
419-317-1742
tarheit@honeyrunapiaries.com
http://www.honeyrunapiaries.com

He offered them for sale at the 2004 Ohio
Tri-County meeting at Wooster Ohio, but
he may have not sold enough of them to
bother to keep them "for sale" on his
web page. I know his device works well,
because I tried it, and he appears to
still have components for sale (the fan,
the switch, the battery back) for those
who might want to build one themselves
in their own workshop.

I dunno - ask him yourself.

[BULLSEYE BILL]

>I tried the bee-quick on burlap in the smoker today. It worked great.

I did too, but it kept puffin ash all over the supers so I quit using it.

In lue of using a breeze board, just offset the fume board a little so the air can enter a small corner upwind. The only times I seem to have a problem with the fume boards is when there is more wind coming in the bottom, like when my hives are facing south and I have a south wind, which is almost always when I am harvesting.

[BerkeyDavid]

Hi all
Just wanted to say I tried the Bee Quick on Monday and I am converted! It was so easy I couldn't believe it. Took my cell phone out in the beeyard so I would have a clock to look at and in 5 minutes the super was clear.

I put my fume board in a plastic garbage bag, just wondering if you have to put the same amount on the next time or if some will stay on the board? took about 2/3 of a small bottle.

Now the honey house smells better too!

[Romahawk]

Iddee you didn't say whether you lit the burlap in the smoker or if you just put the bee quick on the burlap and used the bellows to act like a breeze board to blow the fumes into the hive.

Sounds like maybe Bullseye shouldn't have lit the smoker. :mad:

[iddee]

>>>> I put a spoonful on some burlap, put the
burlap into an unlit smoker,<<<<

Maybe BB didn't read Fuzzy's post carefully enough.
Take note of the word UNLIT. That's the way I did it, and it worked very nicely.

[wayacoyote]

David,
WARNING-- Regarding putting it in a plastic bag, I had the bottle in my tool box. some got on my bee brush and my rubber gloves. It ate both of them up. Now I keep the cloth in a tin can and keep the bottle at home. I'd not put it in a plastic bag at all.

Waya

[sc-bee]

Must have been something else in the tool box ;) :D ;) .

[Dick Allen]

>It ate both of them up.
hmmm?!

I've always used a triangle escape board with good results, but I'm intrigued with the idea of using beequick in an unlit smoker, I just hope the stuff doesn't eat up the bellows on my smoker, if I do decide to try some.

[ July 07, 2006, 01:03 AM: Message edited by: Dick Allen ]

[cphilip]

I am going to try this Beequick in a smoker tomorrow. However I don't seem to have any Burlap around so I figure a nice big Gauze pad should do it? Report later!