one handed queen catcher

[ratcatcher]

a few people on here may have seen a video or two of mine, and I tend to apologise on them for my shaky left hand, don't ask me the technical name for it, but in layman's terms it's a hand tremor

now the good news is, you can take tables to correct it, about 90% affective, the bad news is the side effects sod up your breathing, so I tend to take one tablet every other day or so, and get about 50% relief and live with it

the other bad news is that it always shows up on video, and/or when I'm about to mark a queen, and although it can be done, I'm always worried about damaging her whilst shaking

http://youtu.be/8FsFpRC0e34

so, on evil bay the other day and see this little gizmo, watched a you tube video, and bought it on the spot, hopefully now marking can all be done with my right hand



http://youtu.be/_g6U_JpXjf0

so, does anyone else use one??

 

[itma]

I've seen one, not used one.

I'd be worried that the 'roller shutter garage door' thingy (top right in your side-on photo) which closes the entrance would damage Q or trap her by a leg. Or worse, damage and/or annoy workers near Q, causing the release of alarm pheromones.

Does it work for you?



I don't have a problem using a Baldock cage ("crown of thorns") … but … the time my hand shakes (if it happens) is when I'm trying to apply the colour! Which the one-handed catcher wouldn't change.

 

[ratcatcher]

only just got it this morning, if you see the video of it in action, the guy gently wiggles the catcher as the door is slide shut, so as to not trap her in any way, I suppose it'll have pro's and con's, the one thing I like is the gate is queen excluder size, so unlike my other tubed queen catcher, workers can get out of the top, the plunger also has a safety stop position, so the queen cannot be crushed, unlike the other plunger type

as for marking, I can place the unit down and mark with my right hand, so no shake

I will of course get some video of me using it in due course

 

[Tom Bick]

I think all queen catchers are one handed or at least I am yet to see one that requires two but it still requires two hands to mark her. I have seen one and think they look problematic but then they may work for others. I am gaining more confidence in handling queens with my fingers and hope one day to be very confident.

 

[Jimmy]

I've used one this year. Definitely helped me with marking and clipping particularly and I can see it giving me the confidence to move on and go bare handed.
My first successful attempt at clipping without one was mostly me scrabbling about in the grass desperately trying to catch a young mated queen before she flew off.

 

[Apple]

On another thread
Use a clear plastic bag


James

 

[JeffG]

One handed queen catcher

While it is very good at marking and clipping the queen, I have misgivings about it as a queen catcher. If you examine it you will see that there is a small gap between the base of the unit and where the slide comes across. It is very easy to injure the queen while pushing the slide across as I found to my cost. I now prefer to catch her in the standard plunger type catcher, gently slide the hive tool under her (much better visibility) and then transfer her to the other catcher for clipping. More laborious I know - but safer

 

[Hivemaker.]

More laborious I know - but safer

Safer to just pick her up with your fingers, mark her, and put her back on the comb, safer than sliding hive tools under her and performances like that.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes...I plucked up the courage to do just that last time. A queen bee is more robust than you expect her to be.

 

[dexter's shed]

used it around 2 hours ago to catch a queen for an AS, simply and easy for those with a slight disability

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It is very easy to injure the queen while pushing the slide across as I found to my cost. I now prefer to catch her in the standard plunger type catcher, gently slide the hive tool under her (much better visibility) and then transfer her to the other catcher for clipping. More laborious I know - but safer

It's also very easy to stress or injure the queen faffing around catcking her in a plunger catcher then fiddling around with hive tools or whatever. If you must use an 'implement' to catch the queen for marking (or indeed clipping) crown of thorns is by far the safest. Otherwise, just use your fingers

 

[SixFooter]

I have Only ever picked up a queen with my hands once after getting frustrated with trying to catch her in a crown of thorns. It was ok actually and I marked her OK. I told myself I would always do it like that. When it comes to it though, I don't like taking my gloves off.

 

[dexter's shed]

It's also very easy to stress or injure the queen faffing around catcking her in a plunger catcher then fiddling around with hive tools or whatever. If you must use an 'implement' to catch the queen for marking (or indeed clipping) crown of thorns is by far the safest. Otherwise, just use your fingers

people are failing to see or understand the post in the first place, yes we would all love to be perfect, but for those with disabilities, sometimes doing it the other way is not an option

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

people are failing to see or understand the post in the first place, yes we would all love to be perfect, but for those with disabilities, sometimes doing it the other way is not an option

I understand and can see for limited dexterity it's way better than the standard plunger kit (which IMHO is a load of rubbish anyway, forget about two good hands - you need three) But I'd have thought COT would be as easy to use one-handed, you just simply place over the queen and gently press down until she stays still.

If it works for you, all well and good - but you should understand this forum now, you mention a method and people will discuss pros and cons/alternatives etc. It's the way other people can make their own decisions

Guess that could be why they call it a forum

 

[itma]

Without any comment on its use as an aid for the disabled, I now know of folk who have bought this thing and found more traditional methods to be much, much easier (and safer for Q).

 

[bontbee]

Safer to just pick her up with your fingers, mark her, and put her back on the comb,

I tried that in the interests of efficiency and resented the little moment spent holding her while the paint dried. I have gone back to using the plunger cage. Thanks to practice in the lab doing microbiology, I can operate the plunger delicately enough with my little finger so I don't need three hands. (Still need two - one to hold the queen in the cage and one to operate the pen!). Once she's marked, I put the cage on top of the frames. She dries, the bees find her and, most importantly, so can I if I need to...