bee vacs

rober · April 17, 2012, 12:24:18 PM

with the situation that i had yesterday i can see where a vac can be handy to have. the swarm i caught was mostly on the tree trunk so there was no shaking them off of the tree. there were also some om the crown that could not be brushed very easily. i'm assuming that the vac used for bees have been powered down some so as to not kill or injure the bees. i have a small battery powered shop vac. it draws a lot of power & it discharges the battery pretty fast. if i ran the vac until the battery started to wane do y'all think it would be safe to use for collecting bees? i might be able to buy a 2nd cannister from dewalt & modify it to better accomodate bees.

AllenF · April 17, 2012, 12:38:40 PM

I have a 18 volt rigid vac with 4 batteries that I use with my bee vac. You only have a little time to get them sucked up. It does not suck like the big shop vac. It works ok for swarms. If you run out of juice you are done with it and have to get cords and the big vac out.

forrestcav · April 17, 2012, 11:54:31 PM

i'd like to see your cordless vac there AllenF
got any pics?

AllenF · April 18, 2012, 06:26:31 PM

http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/WD2450-3-Gallon-Cordless-Vac/EN/index.htm

rober · April 21, 2012, 10:10:48 PM

here's the 18 volt dewalt: http://www.factoryauthorizedoutlet.com/dewalt/products/DC500.asp
it runs on a single battery ( same as the dewalt tools, including 12v & 12.4v, & 18v ) or it can be plugged in to any ac outlet. it also has a hepa filter option & has a shoulder strap. it's a nice unit.

beetalkin · April 22, 2012, 12:05:31 AM

modify a 5 gallon bucket & use your vac to vacuum bees into it.

BlevinsBees · April 22, 2012, 05:09:52 AM

Below is the creation by Rick Hall of a $25.00 bee vac that works very well. I've done about 30 extractions/swarms with this. Light and easy to use on a ladder. I added a shoulder strap and a 2 foot hose.

https://plus.google.com/photos/111863660513010434468/albums/5617092227698654225?banner=pwa

JP · April 22, 2012, 05:24:08 PM

Unless you can turn the bucket on its side you will have bees on top of bees which leads to high losses. When they can spread out, this is best. The warmer it is the more this comes into play.

...JP

G3farms · April 22, 2012, 09:16:33 PM

That is why I like the robo style vac, it lets the bees spread out on the comb or foundation in the catch hive. It still gets pretty hot on them in there. I don't see how they make it in a "box in a box" design, especially when made out of plastic, very little insulation from the outside sunshine.

JP · April 22, 2012, 10:17:33 PM

Rob's design is very good. I like Iddee's as well. My Walter Kelley has gotten me through hundreds of removals, has served me quite well. I have another gentleman who has been tinkering with several bee vac designs. I have tried out two thus far. I believe the one he is working on now will hold great promise. It is a box design with a twist or two.

Most good vacs will get the job done but let me add this to the equation. There will be some losses with just about any bee vac design & those losses can be greatly minimized with a really good design. One you can regulate the suction easily, has good ventilation & allows the bees to spread out or up so they are not piled on top of each other.

With that said however, I have done plenty & I mean plenty where I did over fill my inner boxes & the bees were fine, with minimal losses.

So what are some of the other factors that would contribute to high losses?

Intense heating due to a lack of ventilation but also just plain intense heat from the sun's rays baking down on the bees even if they are in a well vented box. It gets very hot late summer down here & when it hits hard I take a view extra precautions to minimize casualties.

A spray bottle of water goes a long way as does a wet towel draped over the top of the catch box. You just want to make certain you're not completely covering the box thus removing any air flow/ventilation you might have. I know Rob adds water to one of the frames in the vac box to help the bees out.

Lastly, something you never really see mentioned much but to me is one of the biggest wrenches that can be thrown at you while using a bee vac & that would be how individual colonies respond to A) being vacuumed (going through the hose on the way to the catch box) & B) their temperament once inside the catch box.

They definitely do not react the same once vacuumed. I've vacuumed a ton that could care less to be inside a vac box and others that absolutely hated being inside the inner box to the point they were so stressed out that they were stinging each other, never ceased to calm even after being lightly sprayed with water leading to an unfortunately high casualty rate.

I can't imagine bees really enjoy the experience of being vacuumed but it would seem that some deal with it fine as if nothing happened while others are so po'd they literally cannot cope.

You can do just about any bee removal without a bee vac but my goodness how they come in handy!

...JP