[ZEEBEE]

Another question for the team...

I think I'll try the fume board method for honey harvesting. I have some concerns about the chemicals used. Have they made any safer ones?

Thanks a cajillion.

 

[Michael Bush]

I've never used a fume board. I put them on a triangular bee escape and come back the next day and brush the bees off of each frame.

There are two kinds of chemcicals for the fume boards.

Bee Go which is Butyric Anhydride. Besides smelling horrible, here's the material saftey sheet on that chemcial: http://www.bee-quick.com/bee-quick/m52119.htm

Here's the hazards:
SPECIAL HAZARD PRECAUTIONS: ND BRONCHI, CHEMICAL PNEUMONITIS AND PULMONARY EDEMA. USE ONLY IN A CHEMICAL FUME HOOD. EXTREMELY DESTRUCTIVE TO TISSUE OF MUCOUS MEMBRANES, UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT, EYES AND SKIN. COMBUSTIBLE MATERIAL. KEEP AWAY FROM HEAT AND OPEN FLAME. CHRONIC: NONE LISTED BY MANUFACTURER. YYYSIGMA CHEMICAL CO

The other fume chemcicals are called Bee-Quick. For their description of their product see: www.bee-quick.com

It smells much better.

 

[Daisy]

I've used it and it works..

This year, I'll have at least four, maybe a few more, but I'll not use the fume boards anymore.

When I'm ready to harvest my share, I'll take a super or two off at about dawn, let the girls go inside for the night.... and well, you know the rest...

 

[Daisy]

I've used it and it works..

This year, I'll have at least four, maybe a few more, but I'll not use the fume boards anymore.

When I'm ready to harvest my share, I'll take a super or two off at about nightfall, let the girls go inside for the night.... and well, you know the rest...

LOL, I made a repair on my post but don't know what we'll see when I hit "submit reply".

 

[Guest]

Wow, thanks for the kind words!

...But we don't like to think of Bee-Quick
as "the other chemical", as there are
no "chemicals" in it at all.

Everything we use is natural, everything is
food grade. We pay through the nose for it
all, but we feel it is worth the trouble.

We have all the certifications ready from our suppliers to meet the USDA Organic
requirements, but the whole organic program
as applied to beekeeping is bogged down, so
we must wait until there are "organic beekeeping rules" before we can be "approved for organic use".

Anyway, the foul-smelling toxic stuff is "the other stuff" if one is speaking
of which sells more.

jim (Fischer, as In Fischer's Bee-Quick)

 

[Gregg]

Zeebee,

I have used both Beego & Honey Robber and have never had any problems with them in terms of safety; just be careful not to spill any on yourself and to wash it off immediately if you do. I've never used Fischer Bee Quick, so I can't make any comments on it(things I have heard have been both + & -). If you're removing a lot of supers (several hundred in a day), fume boards are the only way to go. If you have only a few supers to take off, you may want to consider another method, such as shaking & brushing or a bee escape.

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Gregg Stewart