[AstroBee]

After a full day of pulling honey and completing only half the hives, I think its time for a change. I've been pulling frame-by-frame shaking bees, and although effective it is messy and probably doesn't scale to what I need currently. So, I'm considering switching to fume board approach, or at least giving it a shot just to compare.

I see there are several products on the market designed to work with fume boards, but I've never used them, so I like to hear from people who have some experience.

Honey Bandit
Fischer's Bee-Quick
Honey-B-Gone

No desire to try Honey Robber

Comments on the effectiveness of these?

 

[TWall]

I have only used Bee-Quick. Bee-Quick works best on warm sunny day. My fume boards consist of a piece of cardboard painted flat black, stove black, on one side. There would still be a handful of bees in the super. If it is cloudy or cool the effectiveness droped off quickly. However, bees still moved away from it.

I'm going to buy more Bee-Quick. I ran out last year and wished I had it.

Tom

 

[SueBeeTN]

We used the Fischer's Bee-Quick last year and it worked very well. It would only take 5 to 10 minutes and they would empty the hive body. Just be sure to not use too much or it will run your bees out of the hive! Just use a little bit and then add additional if needed. I would just spray about three or four squirts and that seemed to work.

 

[Paul McCarty]

I like Honey Bandit. Smells like Pine-Sol and the bees run from it.

 

[Bees In Miami]

I am another Fisher's fan. Smells like a cross between almond extract and maraschino cherries. It actually smells pretty decent, and it works on the bees!

 

[Jay Cook]

I use honey harvester, but most of the products work when the sun shines.One thing I do is set another bottom board down beside the hive and set the supers on that, that way you do not disturb the hive too much. If you do not use queen excluders, lightly smoke the hive to make sure the queen is not in the supers. I just tilt the supers up and look for brood but I thought I would mention that to be clear.

 

[rwurster]

I prefer Bee Quick to Bee Go based on my observations of Bee Go frying bees brains that stay too close to the fume board and the smell of Bee Go. Bee Quick works just as well in my opinion and smells much better. My fume boards are just regular migratory top covers with a piece of denim I cut from old pairs of pants stapled to the underside of the cover. I don't have experience with any other bee repellants.