Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS => Topic started by: Agility Mom on March 31, 2004, 01:43:07 pm
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Has anyone ever made a bee vac? I saw plans for one on line but never having seen one it was hard for me to follow. Pictures would sure help.
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Judy,
Funny you should bring this up, I just decided that my next project was to build a bee vac. One of the things I want to try this year is bee lining (bee hunting) and figure if I do get lucky, the bee vac will come in handy.
Here is a link to some pictures of a swarm capture using a homemade bee vac.
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tonyking85/album?.dir=/8873
Robo....
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That was a very interesting slide show. I think it would be fun to do what those guys did in capturing the feral hive.
I caught a swarm last year (I don't think it was mine) and after reading about a bee vac and that you could make one, it seemed like a handy tool to have around just in case the opportunity came again. Not sure I could do it though.
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Not sure I could do it though.
Judy,
I'm going to try and document it when I build mine (Famous last words I always start out good taking pictures, but then get so involved with the build forget to take pictures along the way. I'm a good before and after guy :lol: ) so maybe that will help you or at least encourage you to try and build one.
I don't think it will be that difficult to build, it is basically a box inside of a box with a few strategically places holes. No fancy mitre cuts or anything like that.
Robo...
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I'd enjoy seeing what you build and how you build it (if you get any of those pictures). From the slide show I could see the boxes for holding the vacuumed bees. The plans I looked at called for two inside boxes so one could be replaced if there were too many bees for just the one box. I just don't understand how the vac itself hooks up. From what I have read, it seems a lot of suction is actually detrimental to getting the bees in the box alive.
I look forward to seeing what you do.
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Just think of it as a normal canister vacuum cleaner and the inner box (with screened sides) is the bag and the outer box is the vacuum housing.
The actual vacuum motor is sucking on the outer box, which in turn sucks through the screen of the inner box, but since the surface area of the screen is much greater than the vacuum motor inlet (2 1/2") the velocity of the air through the inner box is much less. So once the bees are sucked down the hose into the inner box, the speed of the air is drastically reduced and they are not squished against the box.
Here is another analogy that will maybe help. Say you are in a room with one door and one window. There is a fan in the door blowing in and the window is open. If you stand directly in front of the fan (the beevac hose into the inner box) you will feel the air blowing in your face. Now if you move to the center of the room (the inside of the inner box) you will feel much less air, if any(depending on how big the room is), blowing in your face. Now if you stand directly in front of the window (the vacuum motor inlet on the outer box) you will feel the air blowing in your face again as it goes out the window.
Robo....
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Robo,
Any luck with the bee vac construction? I too, am interested in building one. Its more of just a time thing on this end though!! Im currently doing searches on bee lining and tools needed, and thought the vac might be a handy one. Im going to try to rig up my power inverter on my ATV, so I can go mobile, if need be, with the vacuum.
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lobstafari
Some of the old time Vermont beekeepers used to take the bee-vac everywhere they went. Electricity was not a problem, they would just plug the bee-vac into a current bush. sic :roll:
Archie
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Ha Ha Ha :roll:
Took me a minute to get it, but hey, I'm sharp, I caught on. 8)
Beth
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I saw some really easy to follow plans for a bee vac in the Bee Culture magazine. It cost like fifty dollars, come to think of it they might even have it on their website;
www.beeculture.com
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What issue of Bee Culture? I looked in the archives and didn't find any reference to a bee vac. Maybe I am looking it up the wrong way.
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Jeremy,
Well I started to build a modified version of the one on Beesource (added plexiglass windows in the outer box to see the inside box). It sort of got put on hold when the old shop vac I had planned to use motor thru a brush. Once I find a vac motor, I will continue.
Judy,
Check here.
http://www.beemaster.com/beebbs/viewtopic.php?p=3361&highlight=#3361
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Thanks, Rob. I missed that posting. What is in the middle of his water bottle?
Judy
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Ok I found the article, its in the Jan 2004 issue of Bee Culture :lol:
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What about this
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005A1K8.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg)
With a couple of modifacations
A spackle buket is almost as usefull as duct tape
I've got one
but with a 5 gal buket some vacuum fittings (easlily found at your mega home stores) some extra hose and some mesh
Ta Da
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I think the bees would drown :wink:
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:lol:
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How about if I didn't put water in it and just left it full of air?
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I know! With all that air in there there won't be any room for the bees!
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It COULD work, but you would need to have some type of screen with at least 1 sq. ft of area to prevent the bees for being sucked right thru. Perhaps a colinder or something similar.
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Hi,
try this site for a bee vac.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Beekeeping/beevac.htm
Archie
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Yes, I have built and used the beevac(from beesource.com) and it works like a charm for feral hive removal. JUST be sure to caulk ALL the joints so the vacuum is not lost. The adjustment on the top is critical when using, because you don't want to kill the bees by banging them around too harshly on the ribbed vacuum hose. The only thing I changed in the plans was to add a foam carpet pad on the inside of the inner box.
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Sweet! Could you post a few pics?