Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS => Topic started by: SgtMaj on August 12, 2008, 10:10:14 pm
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Thought I'd start a new thread for the bee vac I'm making. I had an extra box that I cut down to a shallow super and drilled a couple holes in for vacuum hoses. then I used window screening to screen off the suction side. Here it is so far:
(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c158/Gatbunton/Vac1.jpg)
Next I'll cover the top and bottom with solid boards, only the bottom solid board will have a hole in it where the bees can crawl down into the hive body it'll be placed over.
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where the bees can crawl down into the hive body it'll be placed over.
good luck
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I decided to add a window and lights to it so you can see if the bees are piling up the screen... that way you can shut it off long enough for them to go down into the hive body underneath. Here's a couple pics of the window, which is taped up until the caulk cures...
(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c158/Gatbunton/Window.jpg)
and lights... for now the wiring is run through the vac hole, but that's just because I haven't finished.
(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c158/Gatbunton/Lights.jpg)
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I still have my doubts with the bees going down as their natural tendency is to cluster from the top down. Now that you have added light, my doubts are even greater as they will be attracted to the light in an effort to escape.
Hope I'm wrong :-P
Have to say, I'm pretty disappointed in you. Duct tape doesn't seem to be the quality of work I would expect from you :-P
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when you get finish with the Bee vac, let us know how good it work.
Johnny
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The lights will be on a separate switch so they can be turned off... but of course, the light from the window can't really be turned off... unless I make some kind of heavy curtain that covers it.
I'm pretty disappointed in that caulk... it's been close to a day and a half and it hasn't even begun to set up.
For the suction, I'm thinking of scrapping the line to a normal vacuum and installing a fan instead. That would give me much weaker suction than the vacuum so I wouldn't have to worry about crushed bees, but I have my reservations about if it provides enough suction to pick up the bees in the first place. The strongest I've found that would fit is a 65 CFM fan. I'm not really sure that's enough though.
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Stick with the vacuum and loose the fan idea. You can make something to adjust the amount of vacuum by putting a hole in the box with a sliding cover of some sort. The window could have a piece of paneling over it until you wanted to look inside.
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SgtMaj, good luck! I did not have time to experiment so I built one from Robo's design. Has worked great for two huge cutouts. Works so well that others in my club are copying mine.
Steve
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Yea, I agree on scraping the fan idea and stick with the vac. I was surprised this year on my first vac job of how much suction it really took to get those girls off the comb. They really hang on. I almost had to knock them around a little with the hose to get them loose. So the fan idea in my mind won't work. It just won't be enough power.
Good luck with everything else though. Hope all works. You sound a lot like me in that you want to see everything. I have hive bodies deeps and mediums made of lexan so I can see. Not very cost effective, but I can see what the girls are up to.
F
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Yea, I agree on scraping the fan idea and stick with the vac. I was surprised this year on my first vac job of how much suction it really took to get those girls off the comb. They really hang on. I almost had to knock them around a little with the hose to get them loose. So the fan idea in my mind won't work. It just won't be enough power.
Good luck with everything else though. Hope all works. You sound a lot like me in that you want to see everything. I have hive bodies deeps and mediums made of lexan so I can see. Not very cost effective, but I can see what the girls are up to.
F
Hey Frantz, vacuum the ones that aren't holding on tight, the bee vac in a cut out for the most part is used to get numbers down to a manageable amount whereby you can see what you're doing.
If the bees are very docile and you can work amongst them removing and transferring combs, just leave them right on the combs.
Its not necessary to get all of the bees in the vac in most cases.
...JP
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:? :? :? keep trying -RDY-B
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Hmm, good thing I didn't cut the hole for the fan yet... ah well... I have other things I can use the fan for.
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Thanks JP, I will try to be more gentle. Just rookie nerves I guess. I definately need to slow down and take more time.
F
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Thanks JP, I will try to be more gentle. Just rookie nerves I guess. I definately need to slow down and take more time.
F
All I'm saying is get 'em outta the way so you can see what you're doing or if they are somewhat aggressive, vacuum until they throw in the towel, then do your transfer.
There's lots to vacuum on the wall, joists, whatever, if they're holding on tight just find other ones to vacuum.
Careful with the nurse bees on the combs also, they are more fragile than the adults and get easily disoriented.
...JP