Bee-Quick or BeeGo

[palmerbee1629]

I visited EAS this year and looked around at stuff for clearing supers. Getting tired of the brush method. Anyone used these? I see Bee-Quick is a "non-toxic" blend and Bee Go is the stinky stuff.

What exactly is in these two things? Are the registered for use in hives?

[magnet-man]

BeeGo and Honey Robber is butyric acid. Butyric acid is found cheese, think parmesan, rancid butter and vomit. Put it in a glass ampule and it makes for a great stink bomb.

Bee-Quick no one really knows for sure. Jim Fisher has been very tight lipped as what it is. He claims it is all natural and doesn't contain almond. I only know of two chemicals that smell like almond, and I don't think those are used.

[BonnieBee]

Bee-Quick is made from almond oil extract, I think. Jim Fischer is tight-lipped about the formula. Has a pleasant smell, easy to use and a little goes a long way. It's what I use.

The other stuff, from what I am told, smells like vomit and any fumeboard you use you're gonna wanna leave outside. And heaven forbid if you spill the stuff on yourself. Not sure if you're suppose to wear a mask when you're using Bee-Go.

[alpha6]

We use honey robber...works well for us.

[magnet-man]

Bee-Quick is an aromatic aldehyde and not almond oil. Ammonia will neutralize the smell of Honey Robber or BeeGo. I do know a third and it is what I think Bee-Quick is made of. It can be derived from natural sources, but Bee-Quick likely uses a synthesized version. My guess there is a second ingredient that most people like to consume while watching football , but this is only a guess.

[Michael Palmer]

BeeGo, and Honey Robber are the same. They're made from the root chemical...Butyric Acid. The chemical name is Butyric Anhydride. Honey Robber has a fragrance added. Supposed to smell like cherries. Riiight!

Fisher's Bee Quick is similar to what we used to use....Benzaldehyde. JF says it's not benzaldehyde. Maybe not. Benzaldehyde was taken off the market in Canada because it forms crystals on the fume board pad. These little crystalline stalactites fall off the pad and into the honey supers. Not good. Bee Quick doesn't form crystals...as far as I can tell, although I haven't used a lot of it.

I found that Bee Go works far better than Bee Quick. In a commercial operation, BQ takes too long to work.

[honeyman46408]

I found that Bee Go works far better than Bee Quick. <> BQ takes too long to work.

Ditto - if you wanta move bees use Bee Go if you want your truck to smell nice use Bee Quick

[loggermike]

My son says Bee-go smells like puke and Honey Robber is cherry flavored puke.

Beequick smells MUCH better.Unfortunately, we could never get it to work fast enough to pull honey from big yards before a robbing frenzy started.I went through a gallon of it trying , then gave up on it.

[pcelar]

I found that Bee Go works far better than Bee Quick. In a commercial operation, BQ takes too long to work.

How long is too long? Can someone give us some numbers?

[Grant]

I buy the artificial almond extract (benzaldehyde) from the canning/spice section of the farm supply store (cheaper than the little brown bottles with the red labels at the grocery store).

I mix it about 50/50 with tea tree oil, then add some 90% rubbing alcohol from Wal-Mart. It speeds the evaporation and the effectiveness. There are other homemade compounds that work great, but endorsing them is not in the best interest of this forum.

Given the original question, I'd pick Bee-Quick over Bee-go any day. I've used Bee-go, however, having had my wife come into the honey house and wince, complaining, "What died?" and having to leave my clothes out in the garage because the odor of Bee-go lingered....never again. It took a week of fans and opening the window to get the smell out of the honey house...and this was just the lingering odor that hung in the supers!

As for robbing, here's a great tip. Open all the hives by removing the top and inner covers on all the hives. Then start pulling honey. I know it sounds kooky and an invitation for disaster. But I've been there with the robbing and this method just plain works. However, you have to remove the lids before the robbing starts.

Grant
Jackson, MO

[beedeetee]

For beekeepers with a small number of hives, Bee Quick works just fine. It takes 3-5 minutes to clear a super. I have used Honey Robber -cherry scented vomit that lingers on your supers in the garage- (I have an almost full bottle that I need to dispose of somehow) but I will never use it again. It took about the same amount of time for me as Bee Quick.

I did use some different procedures with Bee Quick that may have helped with the speed in comparison to Honey Robber. When I used Honey Robber I went ahead and broke the supers loose from each other and the excluder. This exposes honey which makes the bees less likely to move. When I used Bee Quick I didn't. I have only used Bee Quick for one year. I pulled the supers when the temps were in the 80's. It took 3-5 minutes using a fume board I got from one of the suppliers (Brushy I think). Maybe 0-12 bees left per super.

[loggermike]

It took 2 hours for 2 people to pull 106 medium supers yesterday with bee-go and 12 fume boards.

[BonnieBee]

As for robbing, here's a great tip. Open all the hives by removing the top and inner covers on all the hives. Then start pulling honey.

The theory goes that by opening up all the hives before removing the supers all the bees are gonna stay and protect their honey supply from robbing, thus no bees attempting to rob another hive.

[wildbranch2007]

My son says Bee-go smells like puke and Honey Robber is cherry flavored puke.

Beequick smells MUCH better.Unfortunately, we could never get it to work fast enough to pull honey from big yards before a robbing frenzy started.I went through a gallon of it trying , then gave up on it.

ditto

mike

[palmerbee1629]

That's why this forum is great. Lots of opinions. I think I'll try all three and see what works for me. I'll also remember not to spill any of the stuff to keep the family content.

[xC0000005]

Bee-Go makes mee-go. I told a friend once - you use that and the only thing you'll clear out of here is me. Oh, it might work on the bees but it probably works on anything with a nose. I like BeeQuick and will pull another super tomorrow using it. Then again I'm a small time beekeeper with three (count them - heck, you can probably count the individual bees) hives, so what works for me probably doesn't scale. I have no problem walking down to check the hives in the evening. If I had 600 hives I doubt that would be feasible.

[DelBee]

[QUOTE=beedeetee;465147]For beekeepers with a small number of hives, Bee Quick works just fine. It takes 3-5 minutes to clear a super. I have used Honey Robber -cherry scented vomit that lingers on your supers in the garage-

I had the same experience with the Honey Robber. It lingers for months and my honey even had a faint smell of "vomit" to it after I extracted. Luckily the smell went away, but I'd never use it again. I prefer the Bee Quick.

[Jeffzhear]

I use a 200 hundred mile an hour blower.....quick and to the point...especially in the fall when the temps are cool and the liquids don't work as well.

[Tom G. Laury]

Bee Go; the sweet smell of success!

[jim lyon]

We use bee go or actually the generic equivalent butyric anhydride. Amazing how little it takes. I would approximate a gallon will pull some where between 5 and 8,000 mediums depending on weather conditions or put another way an ounce to an ounce and a half for a ton of honey. A little common sense in the handling makes the smell issue a non factor. We use blow boxes with an old bed sheet as the absorbent and a pint glass jar with tiny holes in the lid as a "sprinkle bottle" and fashion a handle so that gloves don't come in contact with the jar. We never notice a smell coming off the honey supers or our clothes for that matter. It is all in the handling.