Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: squidink on March 28, 2013, 01:14:57 am
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I had this cut out of a hive out of a compost bin today. My new bee vac worked a treat!
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f58/prodigydiscus78/photo-32copy4_zpsea033977.jpg)
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f58/prodigydiscus78/photo-32copy6_zps2f21eb8f.jpg)
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f58/prodigydiscus78/photo-32copy8_zps18ec8dc2.jpg)
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f58/prodigydiscus78/photo-32copy7_zps7f479484.jpg)
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nice setup
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Looks good.
I do have 2 concerns. Did you put a piece of soft foam in the bottom so that the bees don't slam into the bottom.
The smoker is sitting on a pile of leaves. A friend of mine lost his pickup truck, bee suit, smoker and a hive because he left the smoker sitting in the back of the pickup when his wife called him into the house for an important phone call.
There have been a lot of beeks that have lost entire apiaries because they put the smoker down on leaves.
Jim
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Good observations Jim!
We had over an inch of rain in the 24 hours leading up to the cut out plus it was quite cool during the operation.I put a well used plastic queen excluder in the bee bucket so the girls had an easy landing and something to hang onto.
Ben
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Ben,
Not sure that a plastic excluder would be a cushion. The first 1000 bees are still hitting plastic. After that the bees are acting as the cushion. How many bees did you lose when you put them in the hive? It may be that it works great because of the size of the bucket. Remember, the queens ovaries can not handle rough treatment.
Jim
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Way to go Squidink, nice pic's and vac also. Good luck to you and your bees.
Joe
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Nice one! I get lots of these compost barrel removals. Don't rally know why they like the barrels so much...heat?...convenience? I just took a swarm out of one yesterday (video should be up on my youtube channel tonight).
Scott
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Ben,
Not sure that a plastic excluder would be a cushion. The first 1000 bees are still hitting plastic. After that the bees are acting as the cushion. How many bees did you lose when you put them in the hive? It may be that it works great because of the size of the bucket. Remember, the queens ovaries can not handle rough treatment.
Jim
Thank you for your concern Jim. I have quite a large air hole in the top of the bucket which reduces the suction right down so the bees have a gentle tumble down the tube and into the bucket. I have not lost any bees at all in the bucket. The only ones that die are the very few that get stuck between the hive and lid when they are tipped into the Nuc. I have tried putting drawn wax comb in the bucket but it made no difference when compared to adding the plastic queen excluder as every bee survives the bee vac.
Cheers
Ben
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Ben,
Not sure that a plastic excluder would be a cushion. The first 1000 bees are still hitting plastic. After that the bees are acting as the cushion. How many bees did you lose when you put them in the hive? It may be that it works great because of the size of the bucket. Remember, the queens ovaries can not handle rough treatment.
Jim
Thank you for your concern Jim. I have quite a large air hole in the top of the bucket which reduces the suction right down so the bees have a gentle tumble down the tube and into the bucket. I have not lost any bees at all in the bucket. The only ones that die are the very few that get stuck between the hive and lid when they are tipped into the Nuc. I have tried putting drawn wax comb in the bucket but it made no difference when compared to adding the plastic queen excluder as every bee survives the bee vac.
Cheers
Ben
Glad to hear it worked out Ben.
Jim