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Being covered in honey is probably a death sentence since the honey plugs up the breathing spiracles. I would have left queen cells alone and let them raise a new queen.
We do a fair number of cut outs and we have made several different bee vacs. The design I am happiest with is a wooden box the same dimensions of a deep box. I put a groove (saw kerf width) about an inch up from the bottom about 1/4 inch deep all around three sides. Then I cut a piece of sheet metal to slide into the groove. In the front I made the board stop at the top of the groove height then put another piece below where the metal slides in. This way I can set the box on top of a hive and slide the sheet metal out and drop the bees in to the hive with out them flying around. On the top of the box I put a frame with window screen about 1 inch down then weather stripping around the edges. I cut a piece of lexan to fit snuggly in the top. This seals the box but when you are done vacuuming you put the lexan off and the bees have plenty of ventilation. I glued a piece of pvc the size where my vacuum nozzle would fit snuggly over and put a wire mesh basket over that on the inside of the box. On the other end of the box I cut a hole that another vacuum hose fits snuggly in. This is the hose that vacuums up the bees. I also put a sliding door there so when I pull the hose out it drops in place to keep the bees in. I drilled another one inch hole on the side of the box and stapled screen over the inside. then I put a piece of wood with a screw thru it so I can adjust the opening to regulate the vacuum.
I put straps on it to make it easier to carry. just before we put the bottom on we wad up a bunch of paper towels and put them in the box. this gives the bees a little padding when they land, absorbs moisture and give the bees places to hold on.
When we get back to the apiary I use the blower side of another vac and use it to blow the bees down into their new hive. We usually set an empty box on top of the hive with frames. We find that most of the bees go right into the frames but maybe 20% stay in the box for a couple of hours. After they have settled down I pull off the empty box and remove the paper towels.
We do a fair number of cut outs and we have made several different bee vacs. The design I am happiest with is a wooden box the same dimensions of a deep box. I put a groove (saw kerf width) about an inch up from the bottom about 1/4 inch deep all around three sides. Then I cut a piece of sheet metal to slide into the groove. In the front I made the board stop at the top of the groove height then put another piece below where the metal slides in. This way I can set the box on top of a hive and slide the sheet metal out and drop the bees in to the hive with out them flying around. On the top of the box I put a frame with window screen about 1 inch down then weather stripping around the edges. I cut a piece of lexan to fit snuggly in the top. This seals the box but when you are done vacuuming you put the lexan off and the bees have plenty of ventilation. I glued a piece of pvc the size where my vacuum nozzle would fit snuggly over and put a wire mesh basket over that on the inside of the box. On the other end of the box I cut a hole that another vacuum hose fits snuggly in. This is the hose that vacuums up the bees. I also put a sliding door there so when I pull the hose out it drops in place to keep the bees in. I drilled another one inch hole on the side of the box and stapled screen over the inside. then I put a piece of wood with a screw thru it so I can adjust the opening to regulate the vacuum.
I put straps on it to make it easier to carry. just before we put the bottom on we wad up a bunch of paper towels and put them in the box. this gives the bees a little padding when they land, absorbs moisture and give the bees places to hold on.
When we get back to the apiary I use the blower side of another vac and use it to blow the bees down into their new hive. We usually set an empty box on top of the hive with frames. We find that most of the bees go right into the frames but maybe 20% stay in the box for a couple of hours. After they have settled down I pull off the empty box and remove the paper towels.
