Bee Vacuum version 2
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- Опубліковано 14 тра 2017
- To see the latest work on the bee vacuum, go to • Bee Vacuum V3 . The beginning is the same but there's some important stuff towards the end.
Describes a bee vacuum that makes it easier to transfer the bees from the vacuum to a hive.
A tutorial on how to make the bee vacuum can be found at www.mikes-woodwork.com. Select Tutorials, then the bee vacuum.
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My wife just stumbled on your video and noticed the similarities to the one that I do build and sell. No problem there because I know how much work goes into building them. I did start out with a bigger DeWalt battery operated vacuum myself but found them worthless for cut out/removals. Maybe okay for picking up a easy swarm but anything bigger and you need a AC corded vacuum. Both for vacuuming the bees up and continuously running the vacuum to keep the captured bees cool during a removal. Even carrying extra batteries your vacuum suction is going to begin decreasing from the time you turn the vacuum on and you have to keep closing the suction control to increase vacuum pressure. And the older your 18 volt batteries are the more of a problem it is. I carry a suit case size generator for tools and my vacuum if electricity is not available but have found one or two 100’ electrical cords reach 95% of swarms or cut outs. Also have a converter in my work van that I can plug into for a quick swarm removal at a remote location. Two comments from experience: Your gate/door, better off using the available blast gates-I see you are a wood worker. The removable blast gate allows you to clean the bee’s out that you are going to squish shutting the door. Even being careful its going to happen and the removable blast gate you can clean them with soap and hot water. The second is the bottom wood slide. Yours may be different but I went to a narrower metal slide so that the bees could not escape through the opening when I remove the slide. When I pulled my wooden slide the bees came piling out the gap instead of going down into the deep/hive body below. There is method to my madness and after building over 600 of them I like to think they are pretty well thought out. Happy bee hunting, Guy Shingleton
Thanks for your note, Guy. Let me start by commenting that I have no intention of ever making bee vacuums for sale. I'm retired and plan to stay that way:-)
I have not had the problems with a battery operated vacuum that you describe. I use the DeWalt 20 volt vacuum and 5 amp-hour batteries. I find that if the box is tight and the top is sealed with weather stripping the DeWalt provides plenty of suction to gather the bees. I've done complex cutouts in the walls of homes and never needed more than two batteries. In fact, one battery comes close to completing the job. [Edit] Maybe the reason you've had problems with battery operated vacuums is that you're getting too much air leakage around the metal bottom. I assume it's a bit difficult to cut the bottom so it's really airtight. [end edit]
Maybe it's your experience with the 18 volt units, but I find that with the 20 volt units there's no falloff of the vacuum until the battery is depleted - and then it just stops.
A battery operated vacuum is just a lot more convenient than a 120V unit with the need to find a power source or bring your own generator or inverter.
I gave up on the sliding device on the input port of the bee vacuum. When I did removals from dirty places, for example, in ground utility boxes, I'd suck up dirt and it would collect in the slide and prevent me from closing the slide. I now just stick my gloves or a rag in the vacuum port.
I like your idea of the metal bottom. I make a thing that I stick in the groove where the bottom slides in and out and that thing is attached to the side of the bee vacuum but a metal bottom would be better.
I was looking for a way to transfer a captured hive to a new hive without stressing the bees. For a cutout, I'd put the old brood comb in the hive and the bees would move to the brood fairly quickly. But for a swarm, I needed a way to force the bees into the brood box because they'd start making comb in the bee vacuum. Otherwise, it was just dump them into the hive and they'd fly all around. My sliding interior baffle worked well for that problem. I can force the bees down into the brood box in steps so that I don't crush any bees. It's really worked well.
I did a series of three videos describing how to make my bee vacuum - you can see them at ua-cam.com/video/tDJGIzsucbE/v-deo.html,
ua-cam.com/video/8B1jxHgtzJM/v-deo.html, and
ua-cam.com/video/IxIeIjHvAm4/v-deo.html
but someone would have to have the tools and woodworking experience to build it.
Good luck with your business of making bee vacuums.
This is Awesome!!!
Thank you for sharing.
I'm not in the business of selling these bee vacuums. That's why I detailed how to build them on my website. Additionally, because of the size I imagine the shipping would be expensive. If you are not a woodworker, I think the best thing for you to do is go to a woodworker in your area and ask him or her to build it for you. Go to a school where they teach woodworking and ask the instructor to recommend one of the students to build it for you. The student will get some experience and you'll get it built less expensively.
Since I've changed the design, I'd like to build another vacuum and document how to build it to the final specifications. If I can find a beek in the area who can do some video work and wants a vacuum, maybe we can make a deal.
I would like to see your tutorial but can't find it. I work as an animal control officer and would like to include rescuing bees! Any help is appreciated:)
Love your bee vac I like the changes you’ve made in the second version. I’m wondering why you went away from the screen lid that dropped down into the vac for a stationary one. Also are there any drawings available for your vac ? Thanks
I went to the drop down internal screen because of a couple of things. First, my primary design consideration was to be able to capture and transfer bees to a hive with the minimum of stress and disruption. I feel that minimizing the stress and disruption will maximize the chance of getting the queen, and maximizing the chance that a swarm will stay in the hive and not abscond.
So I designed the the bee vacuum to fit on top of a brood box, with a removable bottom, so that the bees could migrate, at their convenience, to the hive. This early design worked well with cutout outs because the bees would migrate down to their brood.
But when used for a swarm, I found that the bees would not migrate down to the foundation in the hive - they would start making comb in the bee vacuum. So I had to design a way to force the swarm down into the brood box and the foundation. That's why I changed the design to the movable internal screen.
I might also add that what I do now when capturing a swarm is to put an excluder under the brood box so that the queen cannot exit the hive, then put the bee vacuum, with the swarm, on top of the brood box. Using the movable screen, I can gently force the bees down into the brood box. This forcing can be accomplished in a couple of hours. First, force them down to the first top. Then about an hour later, move the screen to the second stop. I find this is as far as I need to force them down - they move into the foundation at this level. Then a bit later, remove the bee vacuum and put your standard top on.
The queen is now trapped in the hive and the bees will draw comb and she will lay in it. At that point, they will generally stay.
Couple of additions: Make sure the hive is dark. If you use a screened bottom board, close it off. Also, once they start drawing comb and the queen starts laying, remove the excluder. It will also trap drones.
I do not have any drawings. The size of the box is determined by the size of the hive (either 8 frame or 10 frame). How high is up to you but 11 to 12 inches is good. Once you have that, making the internal movable screen just means fitting it to the internal of the bee vacuum. The top is the same as a migratory top with a hole for the vacuum hose. Any reasonably experienced woodworker should be able to make one of these boxes.
Hi Mike, I like your box? how much would you sell one for?
To see how to build the bee vacuum, look at www.mikes-woodwork.com/BeeVacuum2.htm For the part where the inside slides down (to push the bees into the hive), I did not show details of how to build that. But if you're a woodworker you should be able to figure it out from the pictures. Additionally, I took the slide off the hose area of the bee vacuum. The problem was that when I vacuumed bees from a cavity that had a dirt bottom, such as described at www.socal-beekeeping.com/2017-10-07CutoutInAFloor.htm I would suck up a lot of dirt and it would clog the slide. So now, I just stuff something in the port.
Why did you chance the model do the internal sceen from the first model ?
I was a bit naive on my first attempt - I thought if I put the vac on top of a brood box, the bees would move down to the brood box. However, what I learned is that the bees would start making comb in the vac, using the hardware cloth to hang the comb from. I realized that I had to modify the vac so that I could push the bees into the brood box - and that's the change I made.
@@michaelhenderson8281 thanks for the reply, i will follow your model with the mobile screen and make my bee vacuum today
I did a sequence of three videos describing how to build the bee vacuum (version 3). You can see the first one at ua-cam.com/video/tDJGIzsucbE/v-deo.html, the second at ua-cam.com/video/8B1jxHgtzJM/v-deo.html and the third at ua-cam.com/video/IxIeIjHvAm4/v-deo.html