[imthedude]

Made a bushkill vac this morning and used it on a removal this afternoon. I had to cut the hose shorter to get decent suction. I started with 35' and cut it down to about 20 or 25'. Even then, with the suction control closed, I didn't get great suction. So I wonder if maybe the hose is too long.

Thoughts?

 

[BGhoney]

I use pool hose, smooth inside. Its only about 6ft long, I add 5 foot sections of pipe to get up into trees, 25ft is the longest i can reach, gets to flimsy. You might not want a long hose it will roll the bees really bad.

 

[odfrank]

I use a 6' shop vac hose and two if needed. My vac is so strong I leave the vent wide open. Maybe you have air leaks?

 

[G3farms]

Sounds like you have some major leaks.

Did you use weather stripping on the edges of the vac components?

Tape all of the box joints?

If you are using a cut out shim put tape over the slot to seal it up also.

Leaks around the sliding lid can be a problem if you cut the grooves a little sloppy. For ease of sliding the lid open/closed I rubbed beeswax on the edges of the lid.

Best way to find the leak is light your smoker and puff smoke around the cracks, it will be drawn in.

I use one or two sections of 6' x 2 1/2" shop vac hose, no problems here.

How many HP is your shop vac?

 

[D Semple]

For the bees sake you should make the hose you actually vacuum with as short as you can get by with. 10' or less I've found work works best. Also helps the vacuumed bees to keep the hose as straight as possible while vacuuming.

Don

 

[Gilligan]

Length and leaks are your problems.

Fluid dynamics are an amazing thing. The more twist and bends and the drag coefficient of the hose itself has a huge play on what kind of suction you can get.

If I go with cut out and with extra bodies I have to tape up EVERYTHING, and I have a 6.25hp shop vac. If I run a single box I can crack open the bypass a little depending on how tight things went together and if I have an attachment on the end.

 

[PA Pete]

Mine is two full sections of Craftsman shop vac hose - maybe 12' long total. This means I sometimes have to hoist my vac up a ladder, but it works fine. 35' sounds really long for bees to go tumbling through.

Good luck!

-Pete

 

[tefer2]

I have found that a 12 ft. hose works for most jobs. Got hoses made up to reach 35 ft.
You got a leaker in your setup! It doesn't take much suction.

 

[imthedude]

thanks all. i did not do weather stripping initially but realized after the fact that i should have. in a pinch i duct taped the seams between hive body and vacuum parts. vac is either a 5hp or 6hp shop vac brand, so i know it's plenty strong to do the job. i will use the much shorter section of hose next time.

gilligan - you must be an engineer. no other sane person would know about fluid dynamics. ;-)

 

[Gilligan]

gilligan - you must be an engineer. no other sane person would know about fluid dynamics. ;-)

No, but I did stay in a holiday inn once.

A long time ago I had a ridiculousness idea/design for a shower and the desire for a cheap/solar way to heat that water. Through my research I realized a lot of problems in my thinking... For one, not taking into effect fluid dynamics. That started me on a quest to understand and wrap my head around such an interesting part of physics.

I often get accused of being a know it all or "always being right", but the fact of the matter is I try to keep my trap shut unless I'm pretty certain I know what I'm talking about to at least some degree.

 

[tefer2]

35ft. It's like a waterslide straight down. Only time we use that much hose is when we have no where to set the catch box closer. Have used that length with success though.