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Liz123

New Bee
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Jul 22, 2019
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Aberdeenshire
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Hi, has anyone any experience of buying/using a beevac? I’ve got bees in my roof and a beevac seemed a good idea to remove them. I ordered one and after a lot of messing around by the seller eventually received something completely different to what was advertised. I got a wet & dry vacuum and am planning to return it. Any help would be appreciated, thanks
 
Bee vacs are excellent for swarm collection and extraction I’m not sure I’d go to the expense of 1 for a single job.
All versions I’ve seen are based on some form of hoover and then additional bits….so what did you get
 
Removing bees from a roof is likely to require a lot more than vaccuming them out as there will be comb left behind which will attract more in future. You need someone local to do it who knows what they're doing and may need a builder to repair afterwards.
 
Removing bees from a roof is likely to require a lot more than vaccuming them out as there will be comb left behind which will attract more in future. You need someone local to do it who knows what they're doing and may need a builder to repair afterwards.
Wilco, got both of those, a good friend who has kept bees for a number of years and can also repair the roof. Just had a very bad experience with a seller of supposedly genuine beevac only to be sent an ordinary wet & dry vacuum that I could bought same make that I was sent for £200.00 less. That’s why I’m looking for others to comment
 
I have a bee vac, it is basically a box that you fix your vacuum to at one side and a tube on the other side. There should be no direct contact between the in and the out tubes, that having been said I have used a Henry hoover on the lowest setting with no collection bag. To be honest the bee vac is only useful to suck up stragglers as you have to remove the comb piece by piece. It is a sticky horrible job whatever you do and if it is above you you will get dripping honey all over you, your suit and your floor. Be WELL PREPARED or suffer!
 
Wilco, got both of those, a good friend who has kept bees for a number of years and can also repair the roof. Just had a very bad experience with a seller of supposedly genuine beevac only to be sent an ordinary wet & dry vacuum that I could bought same make that I was sent for £200.00 less. That’s why I’m looking for others to comment
Excellent.

Well if the item is not as described then you're entitled to a refund. Was there not a separate box attachment with it?

Would be interested to know the brand/company.
 
The vacuum is irrelevant as any sort can be used. Critical element is the collection box, which ought to have a suction reduction valve.

I have the wooden one below; it's really too small for big nests but good for leftovers. Don't ram the box full of bees because the it'll overheat quickly.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/26624729...aXkuxfnR16&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/18588723...aXkuxfnR16&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
The yellow beevac shown on eBay was the one I had ordered although i didn’t order through eBay but from the same seller on his own site. What I got was a Wesco wet and dry vacuum.
 
Excellent.

Well if the item is not as described then you're entitled to a refund. Was there not a separate box attachment with it?

Would be interested to know the brand/company.
What I got was a Wesco wet and dry vacuum.The hose doesn’t seem to be smooth walled inside which I’m told is essential so not to damage the bees. What would have been in a separate box?
 
What I got was a Wesco wet and dry vacuum.The hose doesn’t seem to be smooth walled inside which I’m told is essential so not to damage the bees. What would have been in a separate box?
eBay has its detractors but from my experience both eBay and Amazon are usually quick to step in and sort out misselling problems it looks to me as though you have half of a two parcel delivery. The other parcel would have contained a brood box sized box/chamber with floor, lid, smooth hose fitting into one hole plus a hole to plug the hose from the vacuum unit into.
 
What would have been in a separate box?
The other parcel
The basic Wesco vac is £220 but the full kit to fit to a poly nuc box is £300. Even then, a poly nuc box is needed and can be ordered as an extra for £80. If you did one or two professional removals a year it might be worth investing in the system, but for a one-off personal job it looks expensive.

Two reviews: one says really good (no help) and the other Nice bit of kit, not used as yet though. however it is not compatible with the 18v Makita batteries as it say in the instructions you get with it, and I did not get the drill bit it said that I would to make the nuc hole bigger if I wanted

The other items they sell look like toot, so who knows whether the company is a proper bee outfit or buys in stuff just to make a margin.
 
I thought they were on here last year and was about to tag them for input but can't seem to find their posts/profile. Anyone else remember this?
 
got bees in my roof
Nest accessible?

Set up a nuc or brood box+floor (depending on nest size) next to it. Make frames without wax and fit 3 or so rubber bands to each. Have ready a large deep tray and sharp knife, buckets with lids and one with water. A red light will allow you to work without disturbing the bees.

Smoke the bees a little. Cut off the combs, trim to fit the frame, slot the comb between the rubber bands, and put the frame into the box. Fit off-cuts into a frame, like pieces of a jigsaw. Work carefully, because you don't know the location of the queen. It will be a sticky job so wash gloves and tools regularly.

Once the combs are framed, scrape all the wax from whatever surfaces the nest was using and add it to a feeder. At this point you could fit the bee-vac to the nuc or brood box (pre-drill a hole) and hoover in the stragglers. I worry when the box has frames in it because the bees shoot straight into a side bar.

Leave the box where the nest was for 24-48 hours to allow the bees to locate to the box (so long as the queen is in it) and then fit a travel screen, seal & strap it and park it in its new home more than three miles away.

If the queen isn't in the box you'll know by the behaviour of the bees, and she will have to be found. This is the point when determination, intuition and poking about leads you to another less accessible roof section, and the sweaty game with a hoover continues.

After all this, the roof must be cleaned of all honey and wax, repairs made to prevent future access to swarms, and the whole area painted or sprayed with a powerful smell to conceal the smell of bee.

A slow, sweaty, sticky and tiring job, I can assure you.
 
Hi, has anyone any experience of buying/using a beevac? I’ve got bees in my roof and a beevac seemed a good idea to remove them. I ordered one and after a lot of messing around by the seller eventually received something completely different to what was advertised. I got a wet & dry vacuum and am planning to return it. Any help would be appreciated, thanks
Yes see attached i wrote for BeeCraft on how to make one. We have mine and another in the division. Mine uses an old dyson, the other a DeWalt battery hoover with fishing poles to enable 30ft+reach for tall trees.
 

Attachments

  • Beecraft Article.pdf
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Made a bee vac some years ago to remove bees from my neighbours house .A very messy job. The biggest problem I found was getting the suction right too much and the bees were blasted against the side of the box ,too little and they just flew back out of the hose. After all my efforts mounting the comb into frames the colony didn't survive.Lesson learnt.
 
I've also seen a suggestion after a trap-out, if it's not swarming season to just leave an empty nest to be robbed out by local colonies. Once bee traffic ceased all the honey will be gone, then cover the entrance with mesh small enough to keep bees out but big enough to let waxmoth in to destroy the combs.
Any thoughts whether this would be a reasonable technique?
 
I've also seen a suggestion after a trap-out, if it's not swarming season to just leave an empty nest to be robbed out by local colonies. Once bee traffic ceased all the honey will be gone, then cover the entrance with mesh small enough to keep bees out but big enough to let waxmoth in to destroy the combs.
Any thoughts whether this would be a reasonable technique?

Given that people seem to be seeing swarms from April through to late August or even September these days, I'm not convinced it's a great choice.

James
 

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