[aran]

I did what I thought Michael Palmer had described.
I took a deep hive body and fixed a wood bound metal excluder to the bottom.
I put 2 inches of duct tape around the top of the box. However when i shake bees through it my bees have NO problem all just either flying back out of the box or climbing up over the duct tape. Im really not sure i got many bees through the shaker box when i tried this.
I wonder if a. I need a specific brand of duct tape or b. if my bees are just uncooperative and lack the dislike of duct tape that they are supposed to have.

 

[Michael Palmer]

A little bit of smoke wafted over the top of the shaker box will encourage them to start down. Once they begin going down and nassanoving, just knock or brush down those that begin to cross the tape. Hot humid temps will cause more bees to go up.

 

[crofter]

I think that not all duct tape smells equally repulsive to the bees. I found that a smear of the highly pungent arthritis rub cremes on the duct tape really adds to the effect. Vics vapor rub or eucalyptus, bee gone etc. would work. If you have a bunch to do, adding another deep box reduces the climb over.

 

[amk]

I always try to keep in context when watching those videos Palmer and others they have well groomed bees from many years at it so results maybe different for myself. I use a shaker box and some do fly up but the whole point is to not get the queen. It will serve its purpose for that. Also the nurse bees will go down but definitely smoke them. All the bees that fly will return on there own. I have watched a queen fly off before never to return but she was a runty supercedure queen from October poorly mated so there was no hard feelings from me.

 

[aran]

I think that not all duct tape smells equally repulsive to the bees. I found that a smear of the highly pungent arthritis rub cremes on the duct tape really adds to the effect. Vics vapor rub or eucalyptus, bee gone etc. would work. If you have a bunch to do, adding another deep box reduces the climb over.

ill give this a whirl!

 

[trishbookworm]

thanks for posting this. I am currently finding shaker boxes sort of traumatic! All those confused teen bees flying around - don't know where home is, and aren't staying in the box!

I had better watch the video again, but maybe Michael Palmer's bees could email mine about proper shaker box behavior?

actually I am a print person, found this: https://www.beesource.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-196757.html

and here is a vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbVbo21RMds

In the thread, Michael Palmer describes being able to put the cleared frame back into the box after shaking those bees through the excluder. I get it now thanks to the vid. Note that the vid correctly portrays the mayhem and confusion this can result in!!! for the bees anyways.

Oh and I have to warn the viewers - this vid has a sad ending. For the queen.

 

[Oldtimer]

2 things that i see almost every newby make a hash of. 1, shake frames with a sharp downwards jerk, so the bees go down, not shaked around and launched into flight. 2, work fast. Some folks are so slow that by the time they are finished the process a good portion of the bees have escaped.

If you do see a good body of bees climbing up and about to make it over the top, pick up the box a few inches and smack it down on the ground to knock the bees back down.

But main thing, work fast. To watch a skilled beekeeper do it, you will see a near nonstop shower of bees raining down into the box, frame after quick frame, and the box closed up before they even thought about escaping.

 

[Jack Grimshaw]

This is the shaker box to make.Slicker than.................

https://youtu.be/asFnJgYDJ4M

Give it a tap and the bees slide down.Twice the hieght.