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Author Topic: What have I done?  (Read 4565 times)

Offline asprince

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What have I done?
« on: June 26, 2008, 09:21:09 pm »
Today I let a nice lady talk me into doing a cut out on a colony in her house that has been there for six years. She is about have some remodeling done and says the bees have to go. She does not mind how much I have to tear off to get to them. Her contractor will put it back. I have two weeks to get it done.

I have read most of JP's posts on cut outs but I don't know. How critical is a bee vac? When I rubber band the brood on frames and place them in the hive body, how will I get the bees in the box. I have a difficult time finding the queen in a calm hive. Getting her into the hive will be pure luck.

The colony is very active and very noisy. I suspect it is fairly large.

Comments and recommendations.................please.

Steve       
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Offline Moonshae

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #1 on: June 26, 2008, 09:39:25 pm »
It's really hard to get the loose bees without a bee vac. They just want to go home. I'm sure JP can offer more specific advice, but I've found my removals to go much more smoothly now that I have a vac. I just need to get a smooth tube so I stop killing so many bees.

You're going to charge for the removal, right? Figure out how much you're likely to earn, then spend some of it in advance on the vac. If you have two weeks, you've got plenty of time.

Remember, relax and have fun! Removals are a great experience!
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Offline JP

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #2 on: June 26, 2008, 10:00:16 pm »
Steve unless you will be doing lots of removals I wouldn't suggest you buy a beevac, but you could modify a shop vac to work for you, I believe Robo has some pics that can walk you through.

Sugar water sprayed on the bees and a brush could get a lot of bees in a box that you can transfer into your deep or medium set up.


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Offline Jerrymac

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #3 on: June 26, 2008, 10:03:35 pm »
If you manage to get the brood and the queen into the box and can leave it there a day or two all the bees will move into it if placed close to the old location. Then go back at dusk and close it up and go home with it.
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Offline JP

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #4 on: June 26, 2008, 10:08:13 pm »
If you manage to get the brood and the queen into the box and can leave it there a day or two all the bees will move into it if placed close to the old location. Then go back at dusk and close it up and go home with it.

One word of caution, if you catch her, cage her, and then its great to leave the box behind then you'll wind up with most if not all the bees.

I have had a few queens leave the box and go back to where the hive was, and then you're left with an empty box for the most part and not enough bees covering the brood which means they die.


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Offline asprince

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #5 on: June 26, 2008, 10:14:49 pm »
I am pretty handy and may attempt to build a vac. I need to look thru my junk to see what I have. I know that I have an old small shop vac. Then again, I may invest some of my earnings from the cutout and invest in a store bought unit. I plan to be into bees for a long time and I am sure this situation will come up again.

Jerrymac, how close does the new have have to be to the cutout location?

thanks guys, Steve
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Offline Moonshae

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #6 on: June 26, 2008, 10:31:23 pm »
I've never done a cutout close enough that I'd want to go back to pick up the hive.
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Offline asprince

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #7 on: June 26, 2008, 10:42:49 pm »
The bees are doomed anyway. I am their last hope. If I don't take the job or I am unsuccessful, the exterminator gets the next call. I have to try.

The lady's first call went to the beek that collects the swarms that come from this colony every year. He does not do cutouts.

Steve
Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resembalance to the first. - Ronald Reagan

Offline Jerrymac

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #8 on: June 26, 2008, 10:55:04 pm »
These are in the wall?

Will you do it from inside or outside?

If inside just place the box on the floor where you tore out the wall. (I always used a hive body, frames, top and bottom. A screen to close up the opening. Duct tape to hold everything together. Staples to hold the screen in place.

If out side, I usually try to get it up close to where the bees are congregating by sitting it on a ladder. You will see what I mean by  congregating. They will go for the highest point and gather into a ball.
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Offline Flygirl

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #9 on: June 27, 2008, 01:39:24 am »
This sounds exciting!  Will you have someone there who can take pictures?  I'd love to see the process.  FG
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Offline asprince

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #10 on: June 27, 2008, 08:23:27 am »
I will be working from the outside of the house.

I plan to take some pictures, but I am sure that it will not be pretty.......you know like JP's.

Steve
Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resembalance to the first. - Ronald Reagan

Offline MollySuesHoney

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #11 on: June 27, 2008, 10:13:03 am »
If you are handy, the bee vac on bee source is a pretty good one.  The vacuum motor on the mini hangup model they sell at Wal-Mart is just right for it.  If  you are not handy you can use a small 1 - 1 1/2 HP shop vac with the foam filter in it.  Just remember you will need to make a screened hole in the bucket to adjust the vacuum pressure or you will kill the bees.

Frankly, I've not had a lot of success, other than caging the queen in keeping bees in a box over night.  Even then there can be a rather large cluster that goes back to the old site; even after a good cleaning of the site.  A bee vac is a much better way to go.
Lawrence Underwood

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Offline Robo

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #12 on: June 27, 2008, 10:38:15 am »
If you plan on doing more of these in the future, a bee vac will be well worth your time to build.   Like Moonshae,  most of my removals are quite a distance away, so a return trip is not feasible.  With a bee vac, I can do the removal in a few hours, pack everything in my sub-compact and be on my way.   

I started with the bee-vac plans on Beesource, but struggled with getting the bees out of the box because of the un-standard size.   Since then I come up with my own version that so far has worked great.
http://robo.bushkillfarms.com/beekeeping/bee-vac/

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Offline broke-t

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #13 on: June 27, 2008, 11:08:48 am »
Robo,  I will be doing a cutout this weekend.  I built a copy of your vac to use but cant find 1/8 '' hardwire cloth for bottom of top.  Have plenty of screen door wire but am worried that it will clog up and restrict vaccum.  can order HW cloth but will be 7-10 days to recieve.

Do you think the screen wire will work this one time till I get HW cloth?

I know the vaccum should be kept to a minimum, but how much is too much?  How close to the bee do you have to get to suck her in?

Any info appreciated,  Johnny

Offline Jerrymac

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #14 on: June 27, 2008, 11:45:58 am »
I used door screen no problem.

The suction needs to be where it just barely pulls the bee off the comb. If you have a real smooth hose, a long area where they can slow down, and a soft landing, you can add suction. If from the entry to the container and the place that will stop the bee is narrow, you need real low suction and a soft landing. Foam, cloth, cotton wadding.

OH! And you will kill bees.
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Offline KONASDAD

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #15 on: June 27, 2008, 11:55:02 am »
I have done a number of cutouts w/o a vac. Lots of bees go back into wall area. Just do best you can, set up hive on ladder as close to where hive was and cage queen. They will start to orient to hive Since you have a deadline, i would start as soon as possible to increase your chances of success.Then go back very early morning, or after sun is etting and retrieve as many bees as you can, put in hive. repeat a few times. It takes a few trips back and forth frankly. A dust pan and brush helps w/o a vac. I will be building a vac or contracting ROBO for one this winter! I am handy, but I refuse to buy more tools these days. i have enough. If i haven't needed it before now, i'll pay someone to do it or trade or barter etc. I like robos concept of right into a hive w/ bees.
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Offline Robo

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #16 on: June 27, 2008, 02:42:25 pm »
Robo,  I will be doing a cutout this weekend.  I built a copy of your vac to use but cant find 1/8 '' hardwire cloth for bottom of top.  Have plenty of screen door wire but am worried that it will clog up and restrict vaccum.  can order HW cloth but will be 7-10 days to recieve.

Do you think the screen wire will work this one time till I get HW cloth?
Screen wire will work fine,  it is just not as rigid as the #8, so you may need to add some more cross supports.  Clogging will not be an issue.  Remember a good portion of the air will be flowing thru the by-pass and not thru the top screen anyway.   I don't have any debris making up to the top screen,  and any bees that move to the top easily move around and aren't sucked to it.

Quote

I know the vaccum should be kept to a minimum, but how much is too much?  How close to the bee do you have to get to suck her in?

Any info appreciated,  Johnny

There is no easy way to describe too much.   If it is killing bees it is too much.   You want to start on the low side and just increase it as needed.   When the bees are clustered together,  I use the vac tool to break then loose, not the suction of the vac.  The little buggers can get a good grip, so a little persuasion with the vac tool is usually needed.
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Offline broke-t

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #17 on: June 27, 2008, 03:04:07 pm »
Thanks.

Hope to get pics.

Johnny

Offline MollySuesHoney

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Re: What have I done?
« Reply #18 on: June 27, 2008, 03:19:23 pm »
I had to repair a bee vac once and used the black steel screen from Lowe's it worked well.  Very well.  I use it until this day in one of my vacs.  That's been three years.
Lawrence Underwood

Mobile, Alabama

Offline ooptec

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bee vac
« Reply #19 on: June 28, 2008, 10:54:04 am »
Hey,

I made a nice light beevac for cheap using a styrofoam cooler that nested inside a larger one and a 12V car vac. The long leads are good to hook to vehicle or alternately I have a motorcycle battery

cheers

peter