Worldwide Beekeeping
Beekeeping => General Beekeeping => Topic started by: tbonekel on March 01, 2014, 04:53:15 pm
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I got this thread idea from Blueblood who has a bee tool box. I don't have a dedicated kit with essential tools for beekeeping, but am needing one. I'm interested, how many of you have a bee tool box. What's the essential "tools" in that box. I would start with lgo, queen clip, rubber bands....
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extra queen clip and hive tool(s), staple gun, pieces of newspaper, butane lighter....
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Mine sets across the back of my pickup, but a few of my friends have this one.
http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/Merrill-Tool-Box/productinfo/247/
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I have two.
1. My hive toolbox is used to inspect my hives and contains the basic tools to do that. smoker,hive tool, bread knife, plyers, hammer,queen clip,notebook,spray bottle with 1-1 sugar water.
2. swarm box is a five gallon bucket w/top (the bucket has 4 holes cut in the side and is covered with window mesh,a couple of poker cards to scoop up bees that are on a smooth serface, also have a kitty litter scoop for the same use , queen clip and a soft bristle brush. All this fits in the bucket and stays in my truck along with a ladder. And then there is the removal tool kit but that changes each job. Jim
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Good Idea! think I'll work on that this season. One tool I never thought of until my last inspection is a pair of tongs. When I lifted one of my frames out, some burr comb broke off and landed at the bottom of the hive. Couldn't reach in there and get it cause I would harm bees and I was without gloves. Ran into the house to get a pair of tongs. Worked nicely to retrieve the piece of comb.
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5 gallon bucket here. The longer I'm into beekeeping, the less stuff I carry with me.
A j-hook hive tool and a smoker with fuel is about it now.
Got a queen catcher on a chain around my neck too.
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Mine sets across the back of my pickup, but a few of my friends have this one.
http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/Merrill-Tool-Box/productinfo/247/
That's the one I have. I keep a magnifying glass, smoker fuel pellets, grill lighter, newspaper, hive tools, and other stuff in the toolbox. Tongs mentioned above is a great idea. I'll have to get some.
This tool box is good for sitting on, too, if you get tired. It also holds frame grabber, frame rack, smoker, etc. Somebody put some thought into that box. There's even a screened hole and the inside is made to carry frames, so you could carry a nuc home in it.
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No tool box yet, but I need one badly. It would save many trips from dads place back to my place because I forgot something.
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I use a fishing tackle box. It contains:
regular hive tool
small hive tool
lighters
queen clip
forceps
benadryl cream
benadryl capsules
rubber bands
nitrile gloves
leather gloves
ink pen
sharpie marker
knife
um . . . I think that's about it.
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Plastic Tupperware tub, holds smoker, 10" hive tool, wooden matches, leather bee gloves, queen capture clip, bee escapes.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
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Might be a good thing to build and sell.. what would yall like to HAVE as far as... I'll start a new thread on it so Iddee doesn't spank me :-[
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:laugh: :laugh: Stoooop...... I just spit dinner on my keyboard.
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My smoker, tinder, hive tool, lemon grass oil, q-tips, plastic baggies, rubber bands, benadryl and zantac, frame puller, queen clip, spray bottle w/sugar water, matches, nails, screws, rubber bands, #8 hardware mesh.
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I use a small galvanized pail. It's not too heavy and it holds everything I need. Smoker, fuel, butane lighters, pocket knife on a lanyard so that it's easy to find, bee escapes, hive tools and anything else seasonal. Just basic stuff.
At a glance, Iddee's tool box looks like a nuc box that has been modified with a carrying strap and extra straps to hold tools. Looks like it would be real handy if you came across a swarm and got them to march into your tool box.
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Wow! These are all great ideas! I've got a lot of that stuff, but I just keep forgetting where I put it. :-[
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I think for me, beings my hive is only about 30 feet from my back door, I'll get one of those small canvas tool bags at Harbor Freight. But I would like to keep an extra hive crow bar next to the hive at all times.
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I keep a box of toothpicks. They work good for pulling brood out of cell and if you run into something questionable drop it in your smoker and burn it up.
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Hey! Toothpicks! good idea! I did have AFB and had to put everything down to look for a stick to poke into the sunken brown cap.
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Duct tape , the beekeepers best friend
great mending/sealing up leaky hives in a pinch
mvh Edward :P
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an Iddee snip...
Mine sets across the back of my pickup, but a few of my friends have this one.
tecumseh...
in Texas we at least think larger than in other places. Mine IS the back of my pickup truck.... and this sometimes spills over into the passenger side of the cab.
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Wow! These are all great ideas! I've got a lot of that stuff, but I just keep forgetting where I put it. :-[
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
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I don't carry that much equipment, but I like the idea of having a box to sit on while looking at frames. It still takes a lot of time and concentration for me find the queen. I have been thinking about dipping my queens in marker paint. :)
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tecumseh...
in Texas we at least think larger than in other places. Mine IS the back of my pickup truck.... and this sometimes spills over into the passenger side of the cab.
Yehaw! Me too on that one. But there in one reason that I don't have a bed cover on mine. If I did, no telling how much junk I would have back there! Without one, it forces me to keep the clutter down a little.
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Tbone you are dead on correct. All the pickup with covers over the beds that I have seen are full of stuff, junk if you will. It doesn't matter how much storage space one has, it eventually become filled to the brim. I have a large relatively uncluttered barn on my ranch, it is that way because I do not allow the kids or my wife to store anything in it. If I did, I wouldn't be able to walk through it.
My tool box is currently a five gallon bucket, but I do like the first box shown in this thread, and it appears to be available.
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I keep a box of toothpicks. They work good for pulling brood out of cell and if you run into something questionable drop it in your smoker and burn it up.
Great idea!
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i use a 5 gallon pail with a canvas insert, has pockets on the inside and outside, like for garden tools, or for tools. mine is a garden tool thingy.
also bought a 'seat'/lid for it, so i can sit on it, or if need be, stand on it. i keep my smoker in a galvanized pail.
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Pretty much sums it up for me. This is why I hate the truck and canopy thing. Everything I always seem to need is at the front of the box, and requires me to crawl on my hands and knees to fish it out. I don't normally use the boots, runners are my choice, but, if things get nasty it's nice to have them handy. I've had swollen ankles more than my share.
Brood boxes, honey supers (at the front) bag of pine needles (at the front) nuc boxes (at the front).
:laugh:
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi664.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fvv1%2FPerryBee%2Ftruckandsupplies.jpg&hash=0f129c27c907e1b23765d4b2862aef3c494fce23) (http://s664.photobucket.com/user/PerryBee/media/truckandsupplies.jpg.html)
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Lazy shooter ""I don't carry that much equipment, but I like the idea of having a box to sit on while looking at frames. It still takes a lot of time and concentration for me find the queen.""
Me too, and if I can't sit down, then I would like to be able to put my foot Up on a crate of sorts and lean my elbow down onto my knee which takes the strain off of my back
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Hey Perry, don't you wish you could have taken that picture today? That weather looks nice!
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It'll look like that again, in about3 to 4 months. :sad:
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It still takes a lot of time and concentration for me find the queen
Where are you looking for her?
Its easiest to find her on brood frames in the middle, look where the most bees are and start there.
Honey frames and pollens frames are not likely places to find her.
mvh Edward :P
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jen~
It still takes a lot of time and concentration for me find the queen
edward~
Where are you looking for her?
Its easiest to find her on brood frames in the middle, look where the most bees are and start there.
Honey frames and pollens frames are not likely places to find her.
off topic, but just to add to this, start there? especially in the spring, when you pull your inner cover off, look at the underneath side of that before setting it aside, sometimes she is there....
sorry for the side track, now back to bee tool boxes!
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Thanks Riv! As soon as I get another 65 day, I'm back in the top super to trim up the wierd comb. Will be looking for eggs and her majesty.
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Jen, that should be eggs OR queen. There is NO reason to look for both, other than to keep from mashing her.
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Thank you kind sir ;) 8)
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I kind or employ the MacGyver style of beekeeping. I have never had or used a bee tool box. I have shown up at bee hives with no hive tool. Using a screw drivers, paint scrapers, table knives, teaspoons, needle nose pliers, I have even used pieces of sticks to pry and break the propolis to remove frames. smoker fuel is whatever i have with me of is laying on the ground in the vicinity of the hive, pine combs, pine needles, grass, hay, sticks and twigs, bark, wood chips, cardboard, horse nuggets, rotten wood, what ever will burn. and I have used propane, oxyacetylene, torches to car cigaret lighters to light my smokers. I have used cardboard rolled up to smoke the bees when I have been with out a smoker with me.
I have never used are or had the urge to use frame rests have away rested frames against the hive. I have only ever wore gloves about 3 times in my life while working bees and had discarded them before the inspection was completed. Never used a frame grip as working bees with out gloves it is easier to grab and lift the frames. I have never used a queen clip or even own any, I do have some queen cages that I have gotten queen in and will use them to put a queen in if necessary. Bee brush can be anything from brushing the bees off with the back of my hand, to grass, thin cardboard, paint brushes, blowing, smoking, shaking, or bouncing the bees off frames and out of supers. Bee suit and veils are a non issue as I have not worn one in the past 8 years and it was 6 years before then.
Being prepared is the best approach when working your bees, but just because you don't have every thing on hand doesn't mean you can't work the hive and bees. You can always improvise and use what is available to you. I have brought a few swarms home in a cardboard box with the lid just folded down and a few bees escaping and flying to the windows of the SUV.
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Resourceful, is what I would call your methods apis.
I once brought a swarm home in a paper grocery sack! :o
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I keep my tools in a nuc box. if the need ever arises I have a box ready for use.
inside in no particular order:
a couple of hive tools
cotton balls,
lemon grass oil
lighters
razor knife
electrical tape
duct tape
few pairs of gloves
burlap
frame grips
queen marking tube and pens
queen clips
smoker (hung on the outside of the box)
sample jar with screened top for varroa testing
There is probably a bit more in there but that's what I can think of off the top of my head
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Pretty much sums it up for me. This is why I hate the truck and canopy thing. Everything I always seem to need is at the front of the box, and requires me to crawl on my hands and knees to fish it out. [/URL]
I have a tonneau cover for my truck that folds back in three sections. I carry a step stool so I can get anything out of the bed without having to crawl :D
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These two tools are pretty much all I have with me right at the hive. My bees are propolis monsters, and my wise hands need a little help these days.
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs12.postimg.cc%2Fnip8qgnll%2FDSCF8842.jpg&hash=52f0711795673698522b61d455d7352146f213a5) (http://postimg.cc/image/nip8qgnll/)
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Get a smoker in that pic, young lady, before daddy has to spank. :o ;D
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In your dreams Buster! :laugh:
And While You're Dreamin'
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs17.postimg.cc%2Fy7uw3myq3%2FDSCF8844.jpg&hash=9d7d7ed1e10a363407c3736f0f771db68b17272d) (http://postimg.cc/image/y7uw3myq3/)
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I have kind bees so I dont smoke :D
New toy, two in one that I´m going to try this year bee brush with a hive tool
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs10.postimg.cc%2Fnwlzce2w5%2Fkupknivborste.jpg&hash=5e1ad22fccf654c599a88a7d85df04e6f10698b1) (http://postimg.cc/image/nwlzce2w5/)
mvh Edward :P
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Edward, there's a thread about bad happenings in the bees. Tell us about the times you got 25 to 75 stings the first 3 seconds after you popped the lid open on a hive of your "kind" bees.
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Iddee! You're being a Snarky Pants today. Don't make me open up a can.... ;) 8)
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how sweet of you jen to get idee a beer and bring it open :laugh:
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:laugh: :laugh: Got my reaction....... SUCCESS
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mama- ""how sweet of you jen to get idee a beer and bring it open" ;)
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs13.postimg.cc%2F5g66iazyb%2FCAN_OF_WHOOP_ASS_0478.jpg&hash=11c1d6ae5ebe9dc3e35f924ba9e541ccda58b3fe) (http://postimg.cc/image/5g66iazyb/)
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LOL! touche jen!........
oops......(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1056.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ft373%2Friverbee1%2FMiscellaneous%2520Smileys%2FDucking.gif&hash=f0f8e655dc67e76abe5898c4a1661e439429cb44)....... :D
edward, that new fangled tool you have? like iddee said get yourself a smoker. but hey try out that thing, and when the bees get really ticked at you, post back here and let us know.... :D
you probably won't lose it or leave it in a hive......
maybe get buried in a bee tool box to sometime sooner or later decide things i bought that really didn't work out as planned....... :D
and ps, just some funnin'...... ;D
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LOL too funny...
Edward.. If I had that brush/hive tool combo thingy
The Headlines will read. "Beekeeper Sliced to death by Own Hive tool!"
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I have a bee brush but seldom use it. If anything I found it got them riled up.
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I have a bee brush but seldom use it. If anything I found it got them riled up.
What Perry said above.
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Perry- it gets them riled up when you snap them off of the frame as well.
As soon as I have a 65 day I need to go into my top hive and scape off the wonky comb built up over the winter. This is due to 9 frames and they weren't aligned right.
What do you do to get your bees off if you have to tidy up a frame?
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My bee tool box has a grafting tool included. It doesn't take up much space or add weight that you can feel, but in critical situations it can be a hive-saver.
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Epi Pen
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"What do you do to get your bees off if you have to tidy up a frame?"
jen, i just move them away by gently brushing them away with my hand, maybe a little smoke, they will move, and i use a hive tool or sharp knife to cut off what you had going.
ps epi pens need to be stored at about 70-77 degrees, no extreme temps, heat or cold....
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What do you do to get your bees off if you have to tidy up a frame?
One swift shake over the top of the top bars usually does it.
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Just lightly press the back of your hand against the bees for a moment and they will move alowing you to see into the cells or to break up a large cluster of bees.
Sent from my LG-P500h using Tapatalk 2
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I made four of the D.Coates nuc boxes. I tried to attract a swarm to one of them. I didn't have any success, so it defaulted into a catch-all for all my bee tools. :D
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litefoot~
"I made four of the D.Coates nuc boxes. I tried to attract a swarm to one of them. I didn't have any success, so it defaulted into a catch-all for all my bee tools. :D"
............ :D :D :D
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Just lightly press the back of your hand against the bees for a moment and they will move alowing you to see into the cells or to break up a large cluster of bees.
Or you can just blow on the part of the frame you want to look at and the bees will move away.
I have over 5 or 6 smokers two of them are really nice and made of copper, my favorite one has a domed top. ;D
Still I rarely use them, maybee late in the fall, mostly I fire them up when I give beekeeping lectures to school children . ;D
The best use i've heard for a smoker is that a beekeepers kids put it on the back of their bicycle and playing cards that make sounds on the spokes so they can pretend they are riding a motor bike :D
:o Man I feel sad for you guys that are still smóking, don´t you know its bad for you? :laugh:
Most of my hives have buckfast bees, or buckfast type bees (not island mated) they are nice calm bees to work with. I also have carnica/krainer bees, they are also calm in good weather, but not late in the evening or bad weather.
I had the local paper in my beeyard and we had a hive open for 4 hrs while I showed them all about bees, found the Queen, watched a worker bee crawl out of it´s cell.
After 4 hours I closed up the hive, under the whole time with no roof and pulling frames turning and looking the bees flew out of the normal hive entrance!
We later use this hive for Queen breeding.
Ok, I always wear a bee suit , I get stung about 10-15 times a year, mostly on my forearms, beecause my bee gloves don't have long sleeves, and they get me through one layer of cloth when they get caught in excess twisted fabrik, not real stings with an attached venom sack.
There are nice workable kind bees so why settle for the spawn of the devil :'(
The multi hive tool brush is really Sharp so I'm probably going to dull the edges a bit ;)
mvh Edward :P
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If I wanted to wear a space suit in 90 F. plus weather, I might not smoke. Since I like to be able to work my bees in whatever I might be wearing that day, I will use smoke. It is a trade off.
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If I wanted to wear a space suit in 90 F. plus weather,
I'd probably bee at the beech in that weather 8)
the 80f is hot for us, 90f on rare occasions.
mvh Edward :P
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just because you don't have every thing on hand doesn't mean you can't work the hive and bees. You can always improvise and use what is available to you. I have brought a few swarms home in a cardboard box with the lid just folded down and a few bees escaping and flying to the windows of the SUV.
I brought this swarm home in a copier paper box with holes made by stabbing it with a knife.
http://gregsbees.blogspot.com/2012/08/1st-swarm-experience-and-i-got-to-help.html