Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS => Topic started by: bud1 on October 21, 2010, 08:58:19 pm
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I spent the day with Allan yesterday playing with the device he has invented to get packages out of hives. He can put that thing on a hive and between 7 to 8 min. have a package of bees out leaving the queen in the hive and only taking the cover off the hive. We did it with 4 hives and it worked great at around 70 degrees and a pretty good brease blowing. All were on wagons , with the hives almost touching and he did not disturb any other hive. Allan has been working on this over a year and the little quirks kept poping up. He now has it figured out and it works.
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That's great news Bud! I can't wait to see it in action. It's good to know he finally figured out the breeze issue (or did it turn out to be something else?).
Scott
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what is it -a smoke up box-RDY-B
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I've heard this method described...definitely a great idea and sounds smart.
I'd be most curious to see an analysis of the age of the bees that end up in the package (and compare to some conventionally produced packages). To me, this seems to be the most likely pitfall (if there is one).
deknow
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I've heard this method described...definitely a great idea and sounds smart.
I'd be most curious to see an analysis of the age of the bees that end up in the package (and compare to some conventionally produced packages). To me, this seems to be the most likely pitfall (if there is one).
deknow
describe the method-RDY-B
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Show us pics and videos too.
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It's basically a fume pad with a little electric fan that blows bee go/bee quick in the hive entrance and a modified top that the bees boil out of and into a package cage.
Scott
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A video will be coming soon folks. Should be posted here. I will put it on my site as well. I'm very happy for Alan, he finally got a chance to work the quirks out.
...JP
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How to make sure not to take the queen, or do you still have to find her frame first?
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Queen excluder on top of hive! I can just about guarantee that not all the bees will vacate the hive. Never do with fume boards; they won't leave brood. But should get a bunch for a package. Will this thing be marketed?
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Queen excluder on top of hive! I can just about guarantee that not all the bees will vacate the hive. Never do with fume boards; they won't leave brood. But should get a bunch for a package. Will this thing be marketed?
That is correct.
Queen excluder on top.
This should be used only on a big booming hive as bees really don't want to leave brood.
Alan is trying to get the ball rolling and put his invention out on the market very soon.
I wish him the best!
...JP
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glad scot and jp answered youall as i have ben out of town for a few days. you wil get a god adv. on the bees as most of the foragers are out
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Alright folks here is the video. I will be out of town for a few days after this post. I will answer any questions that come my way when I get back in.
Here's the skinny: Bud and Alan tried it out at Bud's with the new improvements and minor tweaking Alan put on the device with great success.
Alan came down my way and we used the device in one of my bee yards and put together this video.
A small hand full of us have seen the invention and how it works and give it two thumbs way up!
Alan's contact info is at the end of the video but I'll also mention it here as well.
...JP
Alan Bukley
P.O. Box 653
Rainsville, Al 35986
E-mail: mountainvalleybees@yahoo.com
mountainvalleybees.com
Honey Bee Packaging Device:
Honey Bee Packaging Device From Mountain Valley Bees (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh3bgiHKmXA#ws)
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That's brilliant.
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Looks good to me also. What does it run off of, a 12 volt battery or the battery pack? did not understand that part.
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Looks good to me also. What does it run off of, a 12 volt battery or the battery pack? did not understand that part.
It will run off of a battery pack that holds 8 "AA" batteries or right from a 12 volt battery from a vehicle.
...JP
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JP, thanks for posting that! I actually just got off the phone with Alan to give him a big ol' congratulations and promised I'd let you know that I thought you did a great job on the video for him!
Scott
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Very nice invention. ;)
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I wonder if you did away with the bee go and put some menthol in the smoker-and used the device to blow the smoke in--if it would perfome as well as with the bee go-wonder about weighing the packages - :) RDY-B
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I am usually on ventrillo every evning and will try ad answer most of youalls questions there
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Very nice video, sure made it all look so simple, thanks for sharing, beautiful days, of that love, health and peace. Cindi
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I wonder if you did away with the bee go and put some menthol in the smoker-and used the device to blow the smoke in--if it would perfome as well as with the bee go-wonder about weighing the packages - :) RDY-B
Allen would have to comment about using menthol but he has toyed with the idea of a scale to weigh packages.
...JP
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In response to rdy-b have not tried menthol or anything other than the three most widely used honeybee repellants and seems to work extremely well with all of them so far.
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Also in response to rdy-b most commercial and sideline beekeepers who sell many packages can tell by how they feel or look when the bees are bounced down how many bees are in the package however I am looking at the possibility of using a specially designed digital weighing mechanism.
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Also in response to rdy-b most commercial and sideline beekeepers who sell many packages can tell by how they feel or look when the bees are bounced down how many bees are in the package however I am looking at the possibility of using a specially designed digital weighing mechanism.
sounds good unless your the one buying the package--last year there was numerous post about keepers getting 2 1/2 pounds of bees and paying for three-minor detail anyway-I thought up some ways of weighing -have you worked out any projected pricing-and is the blower available without the top-THNKS in advance--RDY-B
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The reason some packages vary other than perhaps the person making up the packages could be that when bees are full of nectar they weigh much more when full of nectar than when not full and this sometimes leads to discrepancies in the filled package at point of acquisition versus point of delivery,even if you were to fill a package full of bees at the point of acquisition and they were full of nectar and weighed them when you closed the package if they sit around for a few hours then they will weigh much less after the moisture is given off by the bees during cooling,I have done this with a very good set of digital scales just to check the apparent final delivery weight. Also when shipping packages it is really better to err on the side of not filling them too full due to the fact that you could increase the losses during shipment if the package is too full.Also as far as weighing mechanisms I am currently in the process of patenting a specially designed scale for fitting directly to the device.As far as the availability of the blower separately each piece of equipment is separately under patent protection, the blower and the lid both separately and together as well as the process itself, the blower would be available as a replacement for one which had been previously bought and needed as replacement for some reason.
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heres 11 pages about short packages many theories --take your pick--wouldn't want to be
in those shoes- 8-) are you going to post the$$$ cost on your web page or is this strictly in the developmental stage at this point-you can pm me a base price if it makes you more comfortable --RDY-B
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239930&highlight=packages (http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239930&highlight=packages)
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Alright folks, thought I'd mention some of the applications of this device, just to get you thinkin' as to what it can do for you.
Yes, you can put packages together, that's the most obvious application.
Other applications:
Requeening a really big, mean colony, getting the numbers down to make it easier to find the queen, this could really come in handy on AHBs.
Honey harvesting
Splits, spring and pre-fall as well as congested hives
One of the really nice things about this device is that you aren't disturbing your other hives in the yard. When we put together packages last year using a large funnel, the bees were everywhere, got a lil crazy have to say.
...JP
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Not to mention reversing it to clear your honey supers, using it to fill a cup of bees for sugar/ether rolls or apitherapy (I've got a customer that buys 50 bees twice a month, this would make that easy!) clearing existing colonies from structures...the list goes on. Great job Alan!
Scott
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rdy-b, Alan said he will PM you about pricing.
...JP
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JP, that was a good idea to use it on requeening a hive. Great idea for the average bee keeper.
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Allen, if you want to run bees out of a hive and into a package, for whatever the reason, this gadget of Alan's is the way to go.
I first heard about it at Bud's and was very excited about its implications and just darn happy for Alan.
Alan knows bees that's for sure and his enthusiasm is contagious, not to mention he is a very generous bee keeper, willing to share his knowledge of many years of bee keeping with any and all bee keepers from newbies to experienced keepers.
...JP
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For all interested we should be starting production next week and you will be able to get pricing information then from me at my e-mail address which is mountainvalleybees@yahoo.com , I will not be giving any information related to pricing on the forum since John does not like for anyone to give such information in any of their posts.
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As jp mentioned in a earlier post, this device has a host of other applications other than merely packaging bees, and for those interested in knowing the exact weight of the packages all you need to do is weigh the packages, then fill them and weigh them again and dump the excess bees back out before closing the package, we have done this many times and it is still so much faster than the older methods that they do not even hold a candle to this method for efficiency. The other uses are many such as obtaining bees for boosting weak nucs or colonies, management of colonies for swarm control by removing excess bees at an appropriate time, requeening of mean hives by getting most of the bees out of the way before trying to locate the queen,making up splits and divides without having to set up nucs by removing a bunch of frames,and many more which will be thought of as it becomes widely used,it can be used as an overall colony management tool.
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As an example of uses which I had not thought of look at hardwoods post earlier about obtaining bees for ether rolls and for apitherapy uses.
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To Weigh a Package
How about a stove pipe or piece of drier vent hose so the package box floats or suspends then hang the package off a scale when you get what you need pull and close the package
Tom
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You could use a tension type scale as you suggest if you wanted, but I am working on a digital type scale which would mount directly to the device, but for the majority of uses most people could use a plain platform type digital scale and weigh the package after filling and then just dump out the excess bees.
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Although I cannot give prices on this forum due to Johns Rules I can tell you that the individual systems materials cost is in the range of about 150 dollars each, and the pricing structure is developed from that including costs of production. If you need more specific information contact me at mountainvalleybees@yahoo.com or you can mail me at Alan Bukley P.O. box 653 Rainsville,Al. 35986. This device will pay itself off in about one to two hours use by the average beekeeper and evn quicker for someone who routinely secures extra bees from their colonies for whatever use.
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Bravo Alan, JP and Bud:
You all are really doing everything the right way, both with the product (which can be industry and backyard management changing) and how you handle yourselves here - I never had a doubt in either case.
To let you know Alan, I made this post the Post of the Day on my Twitter Feed which can be read by members and others searching beekeeping via their cellphones and other portable devices. The post stays there and just rotates as newer Tweets are added.
But the video is awesome, the product speaks for itself and no one better promotes it than you Alan. Great job all around!
Anyone using twitter, follow along at www.twitter.com/beemasterforum (http://www.twitter.com/beemasterforum) for all uodates, interesting posts, anything that is note worthy and inspiring will make it to the twitter feed.
Great Job Guys, again BRAVO!!!!!
John
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Beekeepers, coming soon will be a Positive Hive Beetle Control Solution which will work in everything from small mating nucs to full size hives, but how rapidily this Invention becomes available depends on how well this first device sells. I cannot give away any details of this system yet but hope I am able to bring it to market rather quickly as I understand the need for Queens is an overiding concern for all of us.
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Hi folks, will be mailing out DVD s with additional information including pricing information this week to bee clubs across the country starting in the southeast and southwest. Will also include more detailed information on the ways to use this device and what it can do for you in your own operation. Such as ways to set up quick nucs and quick splits use to get bees out of honey supers with no dangers of robbing and many other things.