bee vac killing bees

[rober]

every time I vacuum bees a lot of bees are killed. I enlarged the pressure regulating hole so I can get the pressure down pretty low. I have installed a piece of foam rubber to cushion their landing in the box. I remove the top lid immediately to expose the screen so they do not overheat. I'm not sure what else I can do. find & convert to a smooth bore hose instead of the standard issue ribbed vacuum hose?? I did a removal this morning on the lowest possible pressure setting & stilled killed about 1/2 of the bees. I'll be going back this evening at dusk to gather the foragers

[robo]

Main killers in bee vacs are too much suction or too small of a container.   My experience has been larger hose size works better.  Ordinary 2-1/2" shop vac hose works quite well and all I recommend to my customers.  Smooth bore is a myth.  If you look at the inside, it is no where near as corrugated as the outside (otherwise it would clog easily with it's intended use).



Bees need room to expand to keep cool,  so even if you provide them plenty of ventilation,  heat can still be an issue if they are cramped.  This is why bucket vacs have such a high kill rate.

Suction needs to be adjusted to be just enough the pull the bees down the hose.  You need to use the vacuum tool to nudge then and break their grip from the comb.  If you have enough suction to "pull" them off the comb, it is too high.  Any type of cushioning device is a waste,  it won't help mortality rate.  it will just become a sticky mess and can often cause more issues.

[iddee]

This is mine. You can watch them enter and adjust the vac. accordingly.

[LazyBkpr]

Listen to Robo..
  You almost have to SCRAPE the bees off the comb...  if you are vacuuming bees, and think to yourself.. this is going good!  You have WAY too much suction!!!!    When your thinking.. GAWD this is going to take forever.. you have the vac set right...
  This is what I built;

   http://www.outyard.net/bee-vac.html

   It is my personal opinion, that you cant get better than the Bushkill Bee Vac.   By the time you have built one that works well, you could have bought the Bushkill twice over.
      Think about it!! Those ladies need a little experience and a big hose, and they will be happy!     Sorry....

[Les]

Innuendos....gotta love em.

[rober]

mine is kind of a cross between robo's & iddee's. the bee vacuum end attaches to 4" base section. a brood box or super stacks on that, then a framed screen, & then there's a 5" cap that the vacuum hose attaches to & also has the holes with pivoting flaps to adjust the pressure. each component has a rubber gasket & everything is held together with a ratchet strap. i'll try dialing down the pressure even more tonight when I go to get the foragers.

[G3farms]

If it sounds like you are sucking up gravels you will have dead bees.

Also watch out when you are pulling them off of open comb that contains nectar, you will suck the nectar out of the comb and drown them.

Too much honey sucked into the hose end will also coat the bees and make a sticky mess out of them.

I ALWAYS put in frames of foundation or drawn comb for the bees to spread out and stand on, otherwise all of them will ball up in the top of the vac.

When you pull the cover off of them put your hand on the screen and you can feel the heat pouring off of them. On hot days I will always give them a little splash of water to drink and also help groom the ones that are sticky with honey.

Keep them in the shade!!!

I have used a 2 1/2" shop vac hose for years and it works perfectly, no need for the 1 1/4" smooth pool hose.

When you add the crevice tool to the end of the hose, adjust the pressure again!!



Tell us what the dead bees look like..........broken in half, a black sticky mess, black and kind of greasy looking......

I have found that swarms are harder to suck up than a hive of bees. They are all wanting to hang from each other and you must start from the bottom and work to the top. If you start at the top you will see that many of them below will fall off in large clumps.

[robo]

George,

Couple of tips.


1.  For swarms bend a 'U' out of a clothes hanger and tape it to the end of your hose.  Then you can use it to carve manageable chunks of bees off at a time.


2. On hot days,  I'll pour some water into a drawn comb and place it in the vac before starting.

[G3farms]

those are both excellent ideas!!

thanks Rob

[Slowmodem]

I got my vacuum from Brushy Mountain.  It works ok.  Don't fill it up and dump the bees as soon as possible.  That's Dad in the video.  We have since gotten a 10 ft. piece of PCV piping to add to the hose so maybe a ladder won't be required.

[rober]

enlarging the regulating hole to reduce the suction & adding a frame of drawn comb filled with water helped. still killed a few but no where near as many as before. I think i'll add a piece of pegboard behind the screen to spread out the airflow.

[Alleyyooper]

My build works with a 1.5 HP  shop vac motor and I can switch to a 5HP if I desire.







DO NOT DRILL HOLS IN SLIDE WITH SCREEN IN PLACE









My suction hose is clear and smooth. I made conectors so I can add or reduce how long of hose I need to reach.

35 foot high swarm using  a tall step ladder in a pick up truck and taping the hose to a 24 foot expandable paint roller pole.





   Al

[Lburou]

If the suction will barely suck your shirt into the open hose, you are somewhere near a good (starting) air flow to vacuum bees.  Better to start low and add pressure than to tear the queen in two and then reduce pressure.  The 2.5 inch hose works much better for me too.

Here is my vacuum. Its a Robo Vac, with a couple tweaks on the vent and intake holes.










Here is a one piece Robo Vac...Just add a super and some suction!



Iddee, I've been thinking about adding an angle iron like yours, may get around to it some day.  :-)

[brooksbeefarm]

I wanted one, but after people that had them tell me how many times they killed bees with them, i decided i didn't want one. Jack

[LazyBkpr]

   Once you figure out the right suction to use they dont kill bees any more..   I will end up with no more than a handful of dead bees..  the consolation is, that you save the hive rather than letting them be exterminated...
   The needs of the many, transcend the needs of the few...

[Alleyyooper]

There so easy to make I have bases for three and have had bees in two at one time.

    Al

[rober]

well I must have got the suction right. I just did a removal & there were very few dead bees in the box.

[Zweefer]