bee vac

[beegee]

I went and collected a swarm today. They had clustered on the side of a pine tree about 16' above ground level. I got them into 2 5-gal buckets by brushing and scraping. I lost over 1/2 of them coming home. They had clustered on the outside of the buckets and even though I drove slowly, they managed to blow off. I decided a bee-vac is the way to go. Has anybody tried the plastic water-jug bee-vac that was in one of the magazines this winter? Other options? I like the cordless aspect, but I could carry my generator or get an inverter for my truck. I'm also considering buying a 30 gal trash can and cutting an 8-mesh hardware cloth top for it to dump swarms in so I don't lose so many bees.

[Michael Bush]

>I went and collected a swarm today. They had clustered on the side of a pine tree about 16' above ground level. I got them into 2 5-gal buckets by brushing and scraping. I lost over 1/2 of them coming home. They had clustered on the outside of the buckets and even though I drove slowly, they managed to blow off. I decided a bee-vac is the way to go.

This has nothing to do with a bee vac. Did you have some kind of lid? Some kind of ventilation? The bees should have been confined somehow. I HAVE a bee vac and much prefer to brush them. I've seldom killed one bee with a brush but have often killed thousands witha vac.

> Has anybody tried the plastic water-jug bee-vac that was in one of the magazines this winter? Other options?

You can buy one from Brushy Mt. I just put a damper on a shop vac and used it before. There are plans on this site in the plans section.

>I like the cordless aspect, but I could carry my generator or get an inverter for my truck. I'm also considering buying a 30 gal trash can and cutting an 8-mesh hardware cloth top for it to dump swarms in so I don't lose so many bees.

The main thing is to have something to put them in with ventilation that can be closed up completely. This is irelevant to using a vac.

I just take a deep box and put #8 hardware cloth on the bottom and a 2 x 2 on each end to hold the bottom off the ground to let the air circulate. Then I have an entrace drilled in the front of the box with #8 hardware cloth on that. Then I have an inner cover with #8 hardware cloth on the hole. Then I use a J20 lightweight stapler to staple the lid onto the box when the swarm is in it. There is lots of ventilation from the bottom, front and top and the bees can't go anywhere. You could also make a telescopic or some other kind of lid with #8 hardware cloth over a hole in it.

[beegee]

I had to brush the bees down from a pine tree trunk about 16' off the ground. I held the buckets under them and gently brushed them into it. The problem was that I couldn't get above them. My ladder was too short and I couldn't reach them. Every time I brushed a wad of bees, the fell into my face and went up my sleeves. I evntually brushed them off the tree and they clustered around the ones in the buckets. Others clustered on pine boughs and I shook them into the buckets. I had a ventilated top on one bucket and a screen on the other. I couldn't get them into the bucket without releasing the rest, so I let them cluster and put the buckets out of the slipstream behind my toolbox. Every time I stopped they swarmed everywhere. I got home with about 2 lbs of bees. I put them into a hive body and an hour later they were GONE. Since I didn't find a cluster anywhere nearby on trees or shrubs, I'm hoping they took up in my other hive, about 30 feet away, which is a little weak right now. I'm going to make a collecting box with a screen top so this won't happen again. The bee vac would be handy in certain situations, but I'm not 100% sold on the idea at this time.

[Keith Benson]

James - thanks for the detailed writeup - if you ever have some pics made I would love to see them. I suspect Barry would be convinced to post them somewhere.

Keith

[BjornBee]

Brushing or knocking a swarm into a box/bucket (I prefer this to a vac) always runs the risk that the queen was not captured. To do this, a lid (and ventalation) is a must for me. After catching the main bunch, they should start scenting for the rest of the bees to join the group. If they start scenting, and other bees are going into the box, the queen is no doubt inside. If the bees are heading OUT of the box the first 5 minutes, then the queen was missed. Regardless, there will be a small cluster back at the original spot. With the queen captured this small cluster of straglers will start looking for the main hive and will all leave. If the queen was missed, then all the bees inside the hive will rejoin the cluster in the tree.

After 10 minutes, the swarm bax is closed up so no bees start coming back out, but straglers will be attracted to the screen area and the scent coming from the hive.

Depending on the time of day and distance, I will leave the hive box for the rest of the day, and will retrieve the next morning or night. Setting it at the base of the tree works well as any "lost" bee will find it in time. This allows almost all bees to join the hive and no bees are left.

Two things a swarm is looking for is food and a dark cavity, with a small hole.

[aufingers]

James it would be much appreciated if you would send me the photos of your bee vac.

Thanking you,

Earl White ewhite@pmt.org

[James Urbish]

http://www.hunt101.com/img/159383-big.jpg one more pic.

[crazydude]

I Tryed making a bee-vac afew different ways but i got sick of carrying a generator around so i now use a cordless wet and dry vac at works a charm!

[Lew Best]

Hey crazydude

Not familiar with the cordless vac you mention. Where do you get one?

Lew

[crazydude]

[crazydude]

ahhhh, here we go http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail_listing.asp?categoryID=1048

[Jon McFadden]

beegee,
You should have put them in the cab of the truck with you. The vibration of the vehicle soothes them and they will stay calm.
I transport them all the time this way in my Caravan. When I was a teenager, I put them in the back seat of the family volkswagon.

I promised Lew a couple of things months ago, one of which was the bee vac I use. It is made from 1/2" CD exterior plywood and is light weight. The original design it was created from used replaceable cages. It was a bee killer. After adjusting it, hardly a bee gets damaged. We even use ribbed hoses. It's on the list Lew!

[peggjam]

Jon:

How did you adjust it, and does it still use replacable cages. My design was built around 3# package cages, killed them all, even with low vacuum.

peggjam

[Jon McFadden]

peggjam,
I had the same experience. My son is the one that actually figured it out. He wasn't familiar with the original design and without knowing how things were supposed to fit, he slapped them together the way he thought they should be. One (or several) picture(s) will show how. I should have time to put some drawings and pictures together tomorrow.
Another cute tool he came up with out of necessity was a means of removing comb from hard to reach places. He should patent this one. I would have never thought of it myself.
In fact, I still had my own concept of what he was doing after he had bought all the parts. I kept asking him why he was collecting all those plastic shopping bags.