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Beego, Bee quick or what else?

14K views 28 replies 12 participants last post by  doc25 
#1 ·
What do you all use to get the remainder of bees out of a cavity once you have the comb out when dong a cut-out. I don't want to use something that's harmful to the bees but need something that will work.

Thanks
 
#2 ·
Beevac. My last cutout of the year was amazing with the use of the beevac. Suck the bees off of the comb as you go along removing the comb. You will kill less bees during the operation as well. Suck up the aggressive bees flying around you as well. This operation gets calmer and calmer the further along you get. By the end there were only confused foragers returning.
 
#3 ·
Thanks doc. I do plan on getting / making a beevac. The last cut-out I did was in soffet and there was about a 1" gap on top of the stone wall going under cedar shingles. She wasn't replacing the shingles and they went up into that space. I was able to start a nuc with the bees that I got, but most of them swarmed about 2 days later. I think if I would have had some kind of bee go that I could have gotten them all. So I'm trying to prepare for next summer's activities.
 
#6 ·
...snip... I was able to start a nuc with the bees that I got, but most of them swarmed about 2 days later. I think if I would have had some kind of bee go that I could have gotten them all. So I'm trying to prepare for next summer's activities.
When you do a cut out, be sure to get some brood comb to anchor the bees to your new box, otherwise they have no reason to stay there. :)
 
#4 ·
If you have never used Bee-Go, keep this in mind. I have posted it before. Work with Bee Go 6 miles away, always up wind, wearing a respirator, in a 60 ft. bunker, equiped with a 6 million cubic foot per second ventilation system, that will reduce the half life to 3000 years.. It will work, but, it is baaaaaaaaaaddd.

My experience with Bee Quick is about all you can say for it is, it smells good. Bees love it, makes your sweaty bee suit and even your old truck smell good.

Lots of smoke will drive them out. Try to get as much comb out as you can. Scrape the walls or whatever. Use a pressurized sprayer and dampen the area with soapy water. it won't kill the bees, and, they will not try to scoop up any honey from the area. They will leave the area and ball up like a small swarm. Catch them if you can.

cchoganjr
 
#5 ·
JP is the king of takeouts....Watch his youtube videos.

Watching a few of JP the beeman's youtube videos is a must if you intend to try this. You can even see him use the sprays to herd the bees where he wants to go. The Robovac is the one you want to make. :)
 
#19 ·
Re: JP is the king of takeouts....Watch his youtube videos.

Don't ever leave any Bee Go in your vehicle without putting it inside another container. Don't even ask?
Dont need to ask. I use Beego they make me change my cloths outside. Dont leave the windows open and the fume boards in the back of the truck or you stink out the people living in the house. Works great just dont get any one you. Leaf blower gets the stragglers out.
 
#10 ·
Re: JP is the king of takeouts....Watch his youtube videos.

Thanks for all your thoughts. So to summarize. . . you all think that bee go is bad stuff, but bee quick works Ok? I want to and plan on making a bee vac, but if I get into another situation as I was this past summer I want to have something to chase them out of the crevice.
 
#11 ·
Re: JP is the king of takeouts....Watch his youtube videos.

delber.... That may be the findings of others, but, I have never found Bee Quick to be effective for anything, except put a nice aroma in the area where it was used.

Bee Go has to be handled with care, don't spill any, and don't use where a lingering odor would be a problem. It will work. Just a horrific odor.

Mr Beeman,..tefer 2... Not to hijack this thread, but I would be interested to hear how you used Bee Quick and found it effective. I tried it in several application, several years ago, and it did nothing. Not useful for harvest, running final bees out from cutout or trapout, keep bees away from trash cans at Service Stations and Quick Marts, etc.

Maybe they have changed it. Maybe I just don't know how to use it. It did not work for me.

cchoganjr
 
#13 ·
Re: JP is the king of takeouts....Watch his youtube videos.

Thanks Mr Beeman. That is sure not my experience, but, I may give it another try this Summer.

There is another thread where this was discussed and almost all the respondants said it did not work for them either. Maybe some of them will see this video and try it again.

Thanks again.

cchoganjr
 
#14 ·
The Ridgid vac/blower that fits the Bushkill vac is really a nice beekeepers tool. I use the vac for removals and the blower for pulling honey crops. My only experience with chemicals is when my buddy spilled beego in his truck. I drove separately from him after that.
 
#17 ·
osfrank...someone said you moved to Georgia after that spill. Any truth to that?cchoganjr
Not me, but the guy who spilled the Beego first abandoned his bees and eventually disappeared to parts unknown.
 
#16 ·
Cleo, I do know that if it's not stored air tight, it becomes weaker. We buy ours by the gallon and my squirt bottle is about twice the size of Beemans. You do have to use more product than with Bee Go.
When you spill it in the truck, it's like an air freshener. Not like a vomit comet.
 
#20 ·
Re: JP is the king of takeouts....Watch his youtube videos.

I've always left the hive with tied in brood comb as near as possible to the cutout for a couple of days....caging the queen helps. If I had to get all the bees out quickly, I would probably use some queen pheromone...or a caged queen with some open brood in a box.
Deknow
 
#21 ·
"What do you all use to get the remainder of bees out of a cavity once you have the comb out when dong a cut-out. I don't want to use something that's harmful to the bees but need something that will work."

Patience seems to work quite well. Leave the chemicals in the truck. Like deknow mentions leave the cutout at the same location and allow the bees to settle into the new location. We use a vacuum (bee-killer) as a last resort. Don't bee in such a hurry.... try working with the bees and not against them.
 
#22 ·
>We use a vacuum (bee-killer) as a last resort.

A bee vacuum is only a bee killer if it is poorly designed or or in the hands of someone who doesn't use it properly. And that is usually using too much suction too fast. It has been said many times, adjust the suction down to where it barely sucks up the bees. Slower but does not kill the bees.
 
#27 ·
Thank you all for your replies!!! This has been VERY helpful. I think I'm going to buy a small bottle of bee go and make a bee vac. I already have a old vaccume that I was going to use for this. It's just the time to get it all made and working. This will give me 2 new tools that I can use the next time something like this comes up. Having more tools in your box is a good thing as long as they're good tools!!! The particular cut out that I did there wasn't a way to get the box higher than what I did (which was about 4' away) and they swarmed 2 days later. I went back the next day and they hadn't come out of the cavity so I couldn't even get them then either. Thanks again everyone!!
 
#29 ·
Riskybizz, no I don't have much exp and never said I had. But ... it seems to work really well maybe it just fits well with me. Had no one to show me how to do it and did a lot of damage especially to the one under the house, really wish I had the vac then.
Why don't you use one?
 
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