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who uses bee-go

10K views 36 replies 21 participants last post by  wishthecuttlefish 
#1 ·
I have never used bee go before if you use it can you give me some insight. Does it change the flavor of the honey at all? I have heard the horror stories of spilling it in your car, basement and etc. But what about the honey if it does not come out of clothes does it effect the honey?
 
#2 ·
I appreciate you asking this question; I have been wondering about Bee-go also, but from a slightly different angle: I wonder if one were to use it for an extraction, say from a log or wall, can it be used to actually drive the queen off the brood comb and out of the hive?
 
#3 ·
i used last year
according to the directions just make a X
on the fume board .
but i put too much on (according to directions .)
i put the fume board on the tailgate of my pickup whilst i was putting the be-go on the fume board and somehow got some on my suit
and it lingered in my suit for several weeks after.
but i tasted the honey that evenin as i was extracting i couldnt taste any be-go
in the honey .
Zeke
 
#4 ·
I use Honey Robber from Mann Lake. I think it is the same as Bee Go with some stuff in it to make it smell less horrible. It works great. I have not noticed any transfer of the smell of the chemical to the taste or smell of the honey. I have found that it is very difficult to drive bees off of brood so I don't know if it will help you there.

------------------
Rob Koss
 
#5 ·
I use Beego works great if it is hot enough but as already said DON`T get it on your cloths or in the truck! I know one BK that got some on his finger and ended up with a burn that was black and not noce to look at.
It has been my experance that if there is brood on the frame they will not leave. I tried the other stuff Fishers I think smells a lot better but didn`t work as good.
 
#6 ·
honeyman: I use fisher'sBee-Quick.It smell's good & I have good luck with it.
I don't use bee-go , so I cannot compare it.
Also Bee-Quick Does not leave any taste in the honey.
We use Bee-Quick when we remove bee's from the inside of homes because it don't smell bad, as far as making the queen leave the brood it may work,But I think you would have to spray it almost on top of her.>>>>MARK
 
#7 ·
I used Bee-Go about 12 years ago when I was working with my commercial beekeeper-friend. The biggest thing was not to use too much of it and use it on a hot day. Better to use a little and let the fume board stay on a little longer. Too much and the bees got agitated(more than normal, I guess). It is rank-smelling stuff.
 
#8 ·
Used both bee go and honey robber in the past before going biological methods. The stuff works fine. The heard that buyers were rejecting honey that had been harvested with these products as a smell was imparted to the honey (taste was fine). At the time I went to check out my own honey. I had to be honest with myself a hard thing to do at the time and I had to admit the smell was there. I decided to ditch the stuff as I don't want to ruin the wholesome reputation of honey for myself and others. To this day I still have supers with a very faint smell of honey robber.

Clay
 
#12 ·
I've had great luck with a screen with one-way exit valves. Of course I only have 3 hives and only harvested from 2. And our nights are getting much colder (50's) which I think also helps. But I put it on one hive late afternoon and by the next morning there were only a few stragglers.
 
#15 ·
About that hair blower.........

If it's not powerful enough, what if I put a piece of hose or something open meshed type of fabric over the air intake opening with beego on it? Think this would get the bees off and not overcome anything with odor?
 
#18 ·
Applying Bee-Go to a hair-dryer is the most hair-brained idea I have heard. Bee-Go is very safe and effective when, on a warm sunny day you apply some to a fume-board, place the fume board on the hive, wait a few minutes, remove a super of honey free from bees, and repeat.

Bee-Go is effective and safe when used carefully and as directed.
 
#20 ·
I am a Bee-Go user and won't attempt to rob without. I never have found the smell to linger. Get some on you - that's a different story!

Here's what I've been doing for years.
1) Forget those fume boards you can buy.
2) When you order take out pizza, save the box.
3) Take an old super and cut it up into
smaller "supers" of about 1.5" high.
4)Staple the pizza box on the mini super
and cut off the overhang. The 16" large pizza boxes fit great.
5) Apply the bee-go and go rob the bees.
6) When finshed, hose the cardboard off with water and throw it in the recycle bin.
7) Save the mini supers for next year.

[This message has been edited by The Honey House (edited August 31, 2003).]
 
#21 ·
My homemade fume boards are 3 inch rims with cloth stapled to it to hold the bee-go .Over that is stapled heavy duty black plastic to absorb the suns heat.A leaf blower is used to get out any remaining bees.I really hate blowing out any substantial amount of bees as the air quickly fills with lost confused bees.I tried some Bee-quick this spring and found it slower than Bee-Go.There always seemed to be 40 or50 bees left in each super that had to be blown out.Since I didnt have any help,I finished the yard with bee-go.Bee-quick smells better and I will try it again if I can get someone to come behind with the blower.

[This message has been edited by loggermike (edited August 31, 2003).]
 
#22 ·
Went out today and pulled 60 supers using Bee-Quick.It was hotter today than the first time I tried it and seemed to work better.It really didnt take any longer than using Bee -Go and I dont think I brought in any more bees than normal.And you dont go into the house smelling like a pile of dog poop!
 
#23 ·
Seems to take a higher temp or more direct sunlight to get it to work in comparison to bee go. But it smells nicer. Benzal??????/ whatever it is called smells nicer too and fortunately works at lower temps than bee go. I carry some of everything and try them all until they move out. Blower is the last resort. Blower always seems like a dandy way to make a big yard highly pissed in short order. Should be done pulling any time now.
 
#24 ·
I had a blower with me too(and beego just in case).The farmers wife decided to start baleing hay fifty feet from the yard so I hesitated for a minute to even start.But the bees were in a good mood and by being careful,I figured I could pull it off without pissing off the yard.Didnt get a single sting and neither did the gal on the tractor.
 
#25 ·
I have never used it and don't intend to. The only thing I see it good for is extractions. It's not difficult to put a bee escape on (I use the triangular ones that are the size of an inner cover) and wait overnight and finish off with a brush. In fact, if I'm in a hurry a brush will work fine by itself but I prefer not to have that many bees in the air.
 
#26 ·
Two methods of getting bees off frames for extraction that I heard of from my local assoc:
1. two "spritz's" from a water spray bottle of bee-go inside the inner cover, wait two minutes
2. blow them off the frame with a leaf-blower with exhaust directed away from the hive
 
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