Natural Beekeeping International Forum

[AndyC]

I was looking for a bee vacuum design and looked at several, then at what I had laying around the place.

Came up with this idea of using any national brood box that the colony/swarm can stay in once collected.

The two panels, one with a Henry vacuum cleaner hose connector, two ventilation holes and two inspection holes, the other suction side with a sliding vacuum level valve, a multi hole meshed panel and a wet dry vacuum connection, are duck taped onto the brood box.

Five frames with no foundation are in the box at the top with the vacuum inlet at the bottom.

Once the colony is collected the bee inlet hole is plugged, the vacuum hose removed and the box layed down onto the bee inlet side with ventilators opened if needed.

At the apiary the bottom tape is removed and the box sat on a standard base board, the top tape is removed, extra frames added and a crown board and top fitted and job done with minimal interference to the swarm.

I just love making stuff . . . . . . .

PS
It now has feet on the bee inlet panel so it sits level.






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[AndyC]

Well sorry to say the first outing was not a total success.
A lot of dead bees in the box.
It seems either the level of vacuum needed to shift the bees is more then they can stand or the pipe or connector is doing physical damage.
Back to the drawing board . . . . .

[Barbara]

Hi Andy

I had problems with my efforts to construct a bee vac last year and had a lot of fatalities too which is pretty discouraging. I had built in a valve to vary the suction so that wasn't the problem. The main issue with mine was having the inlet for the bees in the side instead of the top and the bees were clogging in the kink where the corrugated hose bent to enter the chamber. Of course the suction reduced as it clogged up but I didn't realise and increased the suction. It didn't help that I used a plastic box that had quite a bit of flexion in it.
I started construction on a second one but never got it finished before the end of the season. I really must find some time to get back to it as it will be a very hand tool once it has been perfected.

Are there frames in your hive body....I'm thinking the bees are perhaps getting sucked into it and hitting the top bars of the frames as they enter the chamber. Will be following with interest, whatever modifications you make.

Personally I like the portability of having a plastic bucket as the chamber, so that when I'm climbing up scaffolding etc, it's not too cumbersome.

Regards

Barbara

[AndyC]

I needed more vacuum than I expected just to pick the bees up off whatever they were clinging to.

No frames just top bars.

I am going to change to a smooth bore hose, make sure the hose is as straight as possible and change from a series of 12mm holes covered in mesh around the periphery of the suction side to an entirely mesh panel.

I also reckon it's best to suck for a short while and then clear the hose to allow whatever bees are in it to pass into the box before sucking some more up.

Congestion in the inlet connector seems a likely culprit as the standard fitting does have a bit if a restriction there.

Most of the dead bees I have looked at show little signs of trauma, wings intact, legs all correct etc etc, so a bit of a mystery.

Really annoying as they were calm as you like, loads of BIAS and stores and at this time of year in a nest under a shed really close to the ground.

Maybe stick to swarm collecting as I feel really miffed at killing the poor little blighters.

[Adriaan]

Hi Andy,

Last year I wanted to make a beevac and looked at many different designs. Then I realised that I have a wood stove cleaner and can use that as a beevac.

It is a simple 25 liter metal bucket with a lid and a hose att the bottom for sucking ashes out of the wood stove. In the lid is an opening with a rubber sleeve and a metal mash: this is where the vaccuumcleaner hose goes into.

cleaned after winter use it now serves a dubble purpose as beevac and it works great.

friendly greetings

Adriaan

[AndyC]

I looked at those at the local Homebase store.

Does it actually work with bees without killing them?

I was concerned they would block the small mesh area when the tub gets a lot of bees in it.

[Adriaan]

Hi Andy,

So far no damage to the bees, Its is important that you reduce the suction using the valve on the vaccuum cleaner hose.

friendly greetings

Adriaan

[AndyC]

I can reduce the vacuum on both the vacuum inlet and bee inlet sides of the box but was surprised at how high it needs to be to suck them up if they are on a grippy surface, wood and the like.

i also need to swop to a smooth bore hose as mine is ridged on the inside and didnt help I think.

Maybe a very short experimental try is next after the mods. . . . . . .

[johno]

Hi Andy.

The photobucket images in your post aren't showing up for me. Could you reupload them on imgur or another host. I built a beevac which works on a very similar principle to what you are describing here and it works very well with very few casualties. I use it for removing hives from walls and roofs where they are troublesome to people but I've never had to use it for swarms.

I'll post some pics of my design later in the week. I need to find time to setup the vac and take pictures first.

Cheers,

John

[BuffBum]

Andy,
HTH
http://www.biobees.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=117779#117779
Lance

[AndyC]

Works well now,
The problem was the hose and the inlet connector into the box for the bees.
Using a smooth bore hose and straight inlet very few bees killed.
So I will count that a success.