Finaly!

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

merylvingien

Field Bee
Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
536
Reaction score
0
Location
Near Andover Hampshire
Hive Type
Commercial
Number of Hives
7
Well, formerly i was beeless, however after today, which was a busy day on the phone with regards to swarms (people as far as london were calling) i now have a smallish swarm that was a slightly awkward job in a loft and had to be done with the new beevac which worked very well.

A quick note on the bee vac, although time consuming when collecting individuals, it seems to work very well so long as you dont get too many bees at once up the tube. They were holding hands at one point and needed a helping blow to get the tube cleared. It is no so powerfull as to suck thier wings off or do them damage.

At the moment they are chilling out in the shed, still in the inner capture box which is well ventilated, along with several hangers on that didnt get sucked up, but were bums up and fanning, so i am confident that i got the queen. Tommorow i need to empty them into a half size hive (nuc box).

The plan is to site the nuc, ramp upto the entrance, sheet on the ground, and gently empty them onto the sheet and let them walk in.

So any tips here will be appreciated.
 
You may think you have not got the queen at first as they can take around 10 minutes to work it out and start to move up,once tipped out dont fiddle just stand back and give them plenty of time,they will all march in given a chance..

p.s dont forget the camera,we all want to see the pics!!!
 
No problem admin sir! I will have the camera on hand when i do this!

The former owners of the bees were intent on pushing thier heads through the loft hatch to witness this most bizzare episode of natural britain and i am sure to see the bees whizz down the see through tube :D so much so, that they took photos of this in action, i hope to talk them into emailing me some photos and i will post those too.
 
I always try to run bees into a hive in the evening. Less chance of them suddenly flying off. Not always even likely, especially as your's is not a local swarm with scouts out and about. But I know, I know, the evenings may not be exactly warm this year!

Regards, RAB
 
A quick note on the bee vac, although time consuming when collecting individuals, it seems to work very well so long as you dont get too many bees at once up the tube. They were holding hands at one point and needed a helping blow to get the tube cleared. It is no so powerfull as to suck thier wings off or do them damage.

.

Well done good to hear how the beevac worked sound as though it did its job perhaps though going on what you mentioned above the pipe perhaps larger than the 25mm if my memory serves me right.
All the same I think its a cracking design and it will be great to see some pics at it in action.
 
Well done good to hear how the beevac worked sound as though it did its job perhaps though going on what you mentioned above the pipe perhaps larger than the 25mm if my memory serves me right.
All the same I think its a cracking design and it will be great to see some pics at it in action.


As i reflect on it, i think that the pipe is probably just right, its me at fault with over eagerness and getting used to how to work the tool. When you have a mass of them its just a gentle pass over them, then pull away to let those go down the tube. This really isnt like hoovering the floor :D

I just have to pop out but when i get back i will post some photos of them going into the nuc, facinating to watch them walk up and in! I think maybe the entrance is too small as it is taking them a while to all get in there, but i guess they will just have to wait thier turn.
 
Heres a few photos of the move :D

IMG_3901resize.jpg



IMG_3902resize.jpg



IMG_3904resize.jpg



IMG_3906resize.jpg



IMG_3908resize.jpg



IMG_3909resize.jpg



IMG_3912resize.jpg



IMG_3918resize.jpg




_MG_3924resize.jpg
 
Nice pics.
I love watching them walk into a hive like that.

Darren.
 
merylvingien,

Good pics, but both look as though they have missed the entrance and have carried on climbing. Give 'em a break, open it up for them! You can always put it back afterwards.

Carrying on like this and you will soon have more colonies than me!

Regards, RAB
 
Wish i had a working video camera, they went straight in, a bit of a bottle neck, but nothing too bad. Thats me sorted out for bees this year, need to find potential homes now :sifone:
 

Latest posts

Back
Top