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Muirghein Tarot

NewBee
Registered Member
May 28, 2006
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I was watching a show on TV when I got home, and there was a guy on it using a bee vacuum to catch bees. It looked like a standard vacuum with a clear box on the end of the hose. It had a screen mesh filter inside to keep them from getting sucked down the tube and maybe four inches of softer looking tube past the box where the bees were being sucked in.
Is this standard equipment or was this guy just being creative?
If it is normal beekeeping equipment what keeps the sound of the vacuum from totally pissing off the bees. Outside of being pulled out of mid air and encased in a plastic box which I can't see would make them very happy ladies at all.
Just curious,
Tarot.
 
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kace069

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 21, 2004
470
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No experience here with a bee vaccuum. It is mostly used to get the bees out of buildings I think. Not much use for it other than that. Yes I am sure the sound of the vac makes them mad.
 
Oskaar

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
Administrator
Dec 26, 2004
7,874
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The OC
Hey, if that actually works .... we should put our heads together and supersize that thing to use it as a hot chick vacuum during spring break! Whoo hoo, I can just hear it now. "Yup, just Hoovered in a couple of hotties!" Yeee Haaa!

LOL,

Cheers,

Oskaar
 
S

Scadsobees

NewBee
Registered Member
Jan 3, 2006
32
1
0
Yes, it is that guy getting somewhat creative, but they are also well known in beekeeping circles. There are any number of designs, the main goal is to get them in the box without killing them. Then the combs can be removed without all the angry little ladies flying around.

I borrowed one earlier this summer that a fellow had created from rubbermaid containers and it used his shop vac. It worked well, although there was a 5%-10% casualty rate. The hive is building up nicely now. I don't know if I'd want to try to cut a hive out of a wall without one.

They are mostly home made, although there are a few people that make and sell them. Nothing industrially created.

-rick
 
beeboy

beeboy

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 29, 2004
350
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70
Port Orange, Florida, USA
Bee vacs have been around for years and are mainly modified shop vacs or home made contraptions that suck a large volumn of air slowly so the girls don't get beat up. Never used one but they are great to remove the bees without using any chemicals. Another handy power tool is a bee blower which is just a leaf blower with different attachments. You just blow the bees out of the honey supers and stand there with thousands of bees flying around you while you are loading the crop up. Think I'll stick with my smoker and bee brush for now.
 
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kace069

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 21, 2004
470
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When I work with my mentor we only use the blower as a last result. Sometimes they just don't leave the supers with just bee quick. I hate the blower it is such a chore plus it is noisy, it is a gas powerd motor with a fan housing unit connected to it.
 
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GrantLee63

NewBee
Registered Member
Feb 19, 2006
523
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Clarkston, MI
The first time I saw a bee vacuum was at a Civil War Reenactment in Jackson, MI. The proprietor of Bayour Billy's which serves Cajun-style food and about a dozen varieties of kegged soft drinks, was using it to suck the bees that were hanging around the taps of the beverages. The thing worked great!

Although a bee vacuum is probably the very last thing I actually need, I was thinking about buying one for my wife when she comes across a spider in the house! :D
 
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Muirghein Tarot

NewBee
Registered Member
May 28, 2006
207
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The show I was watching was a Genius World Records show. They had a beekeeper putting bees on a lady to make the worlds first living bee bikini. He was using the bee vac to get the bees back off her before she got stung to many times.
They put a bee pheromone on the cloth of her bikini and when he put the bees on her they wouldn't leave. I have seen that sort of thing on like Fear Factor and other shows but had never seen them Vacuuming the bees off people before.
Although given where these bees where I can understand her reluctance to get stung more times than she had to. Ouch!
Tarot.
 
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kace069

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 21, 2004
470
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Bayou Billy really gets around doesn't he Grantlee.
He's got some really good food to. I usually hit him up every time he comes to town. You really get your moneys worth from him.
 
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GrantLee63

NewBee
Registered Member
Feb 19, 2006
523
1
0
65
Clarkston, MI
Kaceo69 - Yes, He definitely gives you your money's worth! I just saw him again last weekend at the Wyandotte Street Fair. Had I known he was going to be there, I would not have eaten before we went. There was no sign of his bee vacuum however, and, for that matter, there were no signs of any bees!
 
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