Just checked on my three hives and the Honey Supers are very, very full! I'm wanting to pull this honey now because it's almost time for Sourwood to flow here soon.
My question, and is... Whats the best way to remove the frames and get the bee's off? I pulled out three frames and the bee's wouldn't let go at all! Must be some good honey ;)
I want to be as delicate as possible to avoid getting them mad at me, but I also want to go as quickly as possible to grab the honey and get the supers back in place as quickly as possible..
Suggestion, tips??
Jim
There's not really a way to do this without getting them mad at you. You are stealing their honey after all. Have you considered using BeeQuick on a fume board? Not as fast, but fewer bees in the air.
the bee quick works well. you can also use a leaf blower, but i had some pretty mixed results with that. it really ticks them off, but the tend to just fly back to the hive...
Using BeeQuick and a fume board is a breeze. Only way I have ever done it. Just takes a few minutes. Be sure not to use too much BeeQuick, though. Follow the instructions. You can tell if you used too much if you see them running out the front of the hive.
You can also use a triangle escape board. This board goes between the super and the brood nest. The bees leave the supper and can't get back in. Maybe less stressful on bees as no chemicals are used but it takes a lot longer
P.S. There is an older product called Bee Go which works the same as BeeQuick but stinks to high heavens. BeeQuick actually smells kind of nice, like almonds.
Linda D
I like the blower. Blow them right out of the super. Leave blower or the shop vac blowing. If I don't have much to pull, I just use a bee brush. Pull 1 frame at a time and brush. Then place the cleaned frame into an empty box. This works good when you are just pulling the center frames out when the whole box is not capped.
Thanks for the replies y'all. I didn't get a chance to pull yet; our house was hit by lightning and I'm still dealing with many, many lost electrical components inside. Anyways....
Hope to pull Wednesday or Thursday! :) :)
With the Bee-Quick you need to go lightly on the amount used. As stated earlier, if you use to much the girls will fall over them selves trying to get out the front. It is easier to add a drop or two and wait some more then to out run my girls when they are mad at me.
Dang.. Wish I had some Bee-Quick now. Is it sold anywhere in the metro Atlanta area anyone?
another thing you can do with the bee quick if you only have a few supers is to put the supers over an extra board, or empty box with the fume lid on top. when they exit the honey supers they just go back to thier own hives.
this works well if you have more than one super on a hive, but only want to take one. you don't run them out of the one you want to leave on this way
Quote from: Shep1478 on June 14, 2011, 10:17:50 AM
Dang.. Wish I had some Bee-Quick now. Is it sold anywhere in the metro Atlanta area anyone?
The manufacturer's page lists only this seller in GA.
Honey-N-Me
GA USA
770-833-1235
[email protected]Never heard of them...
You can also order online from Dadant, Betterbee, Walter Kelley, all of which are large, well-known suppliers.
Georgia
http://www.gabees.com/store/ (http://www.gabees.com/store/) They got it, but a very long drive from the mountains. Might as well go to the beach or have it shipped.
http://www.pigeonmountaintrading.com/Default.aspx (http://www.pigeonmountaintrading.com/Default.aspx) Maybe, call them. West of you.
http://www.beeyondwonderful.com/ (http://www.beeyondwonderful.com/) Maybe also. South of Atlanta.
i use a leaf blower with no problem.when you have 80 hives you need something fast.in your case beequick will work just fine. ...schawee