Collecting swarms using a home-made swarm/bee vac.
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- A home-made swarm vac., or bee vac, can be used to collect bee swarms quickly, safely and efficiently, without the need for a skep, a ladder, climbing equipment, or a nervous breakdown. This video explains the equipment and also includes two examples of the vac in use, including a two queen swarm.
Very much looking forward to seeing more detailed plans of such excellent vacuum be collector. Hope your website is available soon.
Great stuff Andy! Thanks for sharing.
I love this vac design! Thank you for sharing. Looks like a great day catching two swarms in one day!
this is by far the best design I've seen. minimal disturbance....
Thanks, minimal disturbance is what I aimed for
@@Rock-Scratcher hey are you able to get any more info as to size of fan and fan box
I also use a bee-vac for cut-outs but only use a bee-vac if there isn't any other option. It will be better if they can rather be shaken into the hive or sprayed with sugar water and scooped into the hive. The bees are gorged with honey when in swarm-mode and their honey-stomachs can be ruptured when vacuumed.
Dear Andrew,
I think you made a great design. The first one i see what has the vacuum at the bottom. I started this weekend to make one my self. Thank you for sharing. And i also like your website.
Kind regards,
Jacques from the Netherlands
Thankyou Jacques
Great design and much better than the one in this month's BBKA News. I will be making this at the weekend. One thing - your website is currently down.
I hope you're able to get your website up and running again. I'd like to be able to access the photos and instructions there that relate to this project. I've spent a lot of time today looking at lots of options. Yours seems the best!
Thank you. Yes there are technical issues on the web site which I hope to address soon, once the seasons closures are over.
Thats excellent Andrew. Top class brother
Thanks
I thought that screen bottom was going to be too rough a landing for them to bump onto when they exited the hose, and the hose also ribbed, but they look great in the hive. How did they do the following weeks when that kind of damage would show up in their ability to forage?
They did well as far as I can tell though I do not have the means to monitor foraging capability beyond the usual inspections. Landing on the screen at a shallow angle is infinitely better than arriving on top of the frames vertically. That's was my theory anyway, after seeing designs where the hose is plugged into the top. In these designs the bees impact vertically with the top of the frames or with the hive base. In my design, the bees, when they arrive on the screen, seem to roll before crawling away and upwards (instinctively0 onto the frames. I have had swarms with no casualties, something I've never had collecting them the traditional way by dropping them into a container then dropping them a second time into the hive. I think keeping the suction to a minimum is important.
what a quality vid, cheers for the info and shared knowledge.
Good afternoon!
I watched the video, I really liked your idea of collecting wild swarms.
At us in Ukraine in a season they fly in a plenty
What is the power of the motor used in your case?
It's a 12v motorbike cooling fan. There's more information on my web site at: queensandbeans.uk/2017/05/24/collecting-swarms-using-a-home-made-swarmbee-vac/
Good luck with catching your swarms.
Well done. Do you think it would be ok to combine the fan box and mesh floor/vac box into one box and make the room for a battery inside?
@@Rock-Scratcher i just clicked on the link and its coming as a error
you should do a video on making one
Simple but it works,well done mate. Think I’ll have a crack at making yours, thanks....
You're welcome Phil
Hi mate what watts is that motor thanks...
@@jfdiphil69 I wrote an article about my experiments on my blog site and it contains more detailed information concerning the components. Have a look at queensandbeans.uk/2017/05/24/collecting-swarms-using-a-home-made-swarm-bee-vac/. Cheers
When you transport the bees do you leave the screened bottom from the vac on for ventilation, and block the hose hole?
I suppose if you brought enough screened bottom boards, entrance reducers and inner covers, you could reuse the vac for additional clusters.
Once you are certain you have the queen in the box (from the behaviour of the bees) then the floor can be exchanged for a standard floor as the vac will not be needed again and, as you say, the equipment becomes available for a second swarm. Occasionally a swarm will have two queens and the double clusters can be treated as two swarms.
@@Rock-Scratcher Do you keep an eye out for the queen and catch and cage her when vacuuming, or do you just suck her up with the rest of the cluster?
@@fredshoney6458 Normally I don't see her but I know when shes in the box because the bees change their behaviour and start trying to get to her in the box and the bees left in the old position start getting agitated and run around looking for her. but I do keep an eye out to make sure I get her especially since I discovered that swarms can sometimes contain more than one queen.
Did you experiment with different size computer fans so that you had enough air flow but wasn’t too violent for the bees.
Computer fans aren't strong enough so I used a 12v motorbike fan which is just right.
I have a electronic supply store that has computer style fans in 4,6,8, and 10 inch diameters. I’m sure one of those sizes would work and a speed controller could also be wired in to regulate the speed and account for longer or shorter hoses.
@@rlknight57 Some of the bigger fans might be ok. You could always use two with your controller.
That stereo camera audio got me shaking my head a few times because of the bee sound xD
Did Gary help?
Andrew, great design. What diameter of tubing do you use?
Its down the allotment so I cannot tell you at the moment but it is a fairly standard vacuum hose which I got from a skip.
Ok. I'll start with standard 2" hose and go from there. A friend told me his bee vac always made the bees dizzy and then vomit, and none of the vacuumed swarms got through the winter. Has this ever happened with your vac, and how did you fix it?
No this has never happened. My hose has ribs down it for strength but if the hose was helical in construction I would imagine the vortex created would spin the bees. Could this be why your friend has problems?
I saw his vacuum today The hose was perfectly smooth poly tube, but it was only 3/4" inside diameter, and the bees didn't have any kind of landing ramp, the whupped right into a cloth he had set up. With low vacuum pressure, vortex probably isn't an issue. I'll find out. Hope you don't mind, I'm copying your design and will test it out; if it works I'll tell Michael Bush to give it another look. I really think you're onto something here. Also I'm getting a pressure gauge; with a known-good air pressure, should be easy to plug in any vacuum or fan and modify it to the right pressure.
Yes copy all you want. I learnt from other's examples and I'm still experimenting. If you make any improved,nets please let us all know. A smooth tube sounds great but the diameter sounds a bit small. But try it and see, that's the only way. Good luck with it.
Do you have draw out plans for your system?
No but there's a better description and more photos on my web site at www.QueensandBeans.uk
What's the fan off/where to get it
I used a recycle motorbike fan from a biker mate. For full details of the build see the article I wrote at: queensandbeans.uk/2017/05/24/collecting-swarms-using-a-home-made-swarmbee-vac/
Closed caption doesn't understand neither.
What fan is that?
Its a 12 volt motorcycle fan which a mate gave me.
HI, Great video.
I've built my own following your plan/ideas. But the suction doesn't seem good enough. my seals are good. Wondered if my fan is to weak ? it is 12v but only 80watts. what was yours ? I read your article in the link. Very informative.
Many thanks
I will be getting my vac out this weekend and cleaning off the cobwebs so I'll have a look at the wattage.
Andrew Lane great, any help is much appreciated 😃
The fan is a PAG30 - PANASONIC SSW9809L from a Yamaha but I cannot find the power rating. It is very gentle compared to some I have seen but I'm happy to take my time and not risk damaging the bees. Sorry I couldn't help more. The fan was free and so was my first attempt. It would be easy to fit a more powerful fan now but I'm happy with the one I have for now.
you copied my account name 😈
so what