Bee vac

[Mick Greenwich]

Has anyone in the uk ever tried to use an ash vacuum cleaner used for cleaning fire places and bbq as a bee vac ? You can now pick them up for as little as £33 on Amazon. I saw a you tube video of the Bush bee man using one in Australia and it seem to work for him.
With his set up he just had an ash can no vacuum cleaner, the Amazon one incorporated a vacuum.
It could work out as another useful tool in our locker to retrieve swarms. I hope someone out there has given it a try and has worked out it's pitfuls. Look forward to hearing your constructive comments.

 

[gmonag]

Bee Vacs do work on the same principle as ash vacs but are a bit more sophisticated, and bee-friendly.

 

[Apple]

Bee Vacs do work on the same principle as ash vacs but are a bit more sophisticated, and bee-friendly.

Nothing sucks like an Electrolux......

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Nothing sucks like an Electrolux......

I would mention Myfanwy from Hendre farm at this point - but there may be children looking on

 

[Apple]

I would mention Myfanwy from Hendre farm at this point - but there may be children looking on

Hope that's not my auntie?

 

[pargyle]

Has anyone in the uk ever tried to use an ash vacuum cleaner used for cleaning fire places and bbq as a bee vac ? You can now pick them up for as little as £33 on Amazon. I saw a you tube video of the Bush bee man using one in Australia and it seem to work for him.
With his set up he just had an ash can no vacuum cleaner, the Amazon one incorporated a vacuum.
It could work out as another useful tool in our locker to retrieve swarms. I hope someone out there has given it a try and has worked out it's pitfuls. Look forward to hearing your constructive comments.

I have one from Aldi (even less than £33 - but without the integral motor) I use it as a dust collector for my woodturning lathe with a Henry Vacumn cleaner ... I think in standard form they would be a bit too violent as a bee vac ,,, even with the lower setting on the Henry it's a very strong suction.

You would be better off with the sort without the integral motor and finding a way of reducing the flow - perhaps an intermediate box between a vacumn cleaner and the ash can to take some of the strength off the flow ?

The other problem is that some of the hoses are corrugated internally and you really need a smooth walled tube otherwise it beats the bees to death on their way through.

 

[Newbeeneil]

I have one from Aldi (even less than £33 - but without the integral motor) I use it as a dust collector for my woodturning lathe with a Henry Vacumn cleaner ... I think in standard form they would be a bit too violent as a bee vac ,,, even with the lower setting on the Henry it's a very strong suction.

You would be better off with the sort without the integral motor and finding a way of reducing the flow - perhaps an intermediate box between a vacumn cleaner and the ash can to take some of the strength off the flow ?

The other problem is that some of the hoses are corrugated internally and you really need a smooth walled tube otherwise it beats the bees to death on their way through.

I use a beevac with a corrugated hose and get very few damaged bees. I always assumed that the airflow kept the bees away from the corrugations.

 

[pargyle]

I use a beevac with a corrugated hose and get very few damaged bees. I always assumed that the airflow kept the bees away from the corrugations.

How corrugated is it ? The ones on my Aldi one are really deep ...

 

[user 819]

For my diy bee vac I use Blue pool hose it is slightly ribbed but they are fairly shallow, I use a 12v vac and utilise a fermenting bin with some lid mods for the bee receptical.

 

[Michael ECB's]

For my diy bee vac I use Blue pool hose it is slightly ribbed but they are fairly shallow, I use a 12v vac and utilise a fermenting bin with some lid mods for the bee receptical.

I also use the blue pool hose as well (kreepy crawly pipe) and have hardly any deaths or damaged bees....
This is used for HUGE wild colonies as well as swarms hanging in balls..
Reduce suction on vac as well as reduce the nozzle sucking end. (So the only strong suction is at the front end) I believe this is where a lot of folks make the mistake..
Also try and keep pipe as straight as possible...
Longest I have gone was 7 pipes joined together 7 x 1,2 = 8.4 m

My opinion, we end up damaging/killing more bees by cutting, handling and framing wild comb by hand... (Well, with my pork sausage fingers anyway)

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have one from Aldi (even less than £33 - but without the integral motor) I use it as a dust collector for my woodturning lathe with a Henry Vacumn cleaner ... I think in standard form they would be a bit too violent as a bee vac ,,, even with the lower setting on the Henry it's a very strong suction.

If you make a hole in the can you can reduce the pressure

 

[TonyLack]

I have a solid hoover pipe attached to the side of a bucket. The bucket has a lid where the flexible hose goes to the vacuum. That's surrounded by fine mesh.
As the bucket is small I can carry it so there is no ribbed hose or bends where the bees go.

 

[ChrisS]

I use a Henry-type drum vacuum and a triac power controller to slow it down. It works really well at a low setting, just enough to suck the bees down the hose without pinning them against the corrugated filter. I put half an upturned egg carton in the base of the drum to prevent them getting whirled around. Came in very useful last year when we had to extract a swarm from under a bath! It was a very tight squeeze but fortunately my queen beekeeper is very petite. I stood back and laughed supervised tried to keep out of her way!

You can buy cheap power controllers on ebay - search for "motor speed controller module". They work well but be warned, many come from China and their electrical safety is very dodgy (unearthed metalwork etc). You should definitely consult an electrician or electronics engineer before you DIY. That's why I can't recommend any particular product.