Видео

You can see the details of the bee vacuum at ruclips.net/video/RMNhmYIishQ/видео.html

Bees propagate by swarming. A swarm consist of a queen bee and a number of worker bees. They fly out of the hive and congregate somewhere, usually in a tree where they hang as a bunch from a branch. This swarm decided to hang on the side of a house - unusual, but it happens occasionally. The swarm sends out scout bees who look for a cavity that the bees can move into for a new home. Usually, that takes a couple of days. When an acceptable cavity is found, the bees will fly off, as a group, and move into that cavity. Unfortunately, most swarms are not successful, as measured by surviving for a year. Only about 25% survive. What you see here is a swarm waiting for the scout bees to find a new home. I got to them before they found a cavity and put them into a hive (a cavity). Also, to address your question about where's the "nest" (hive) - a swarm usually does not go too far from the mother hive before they congregate like this. Usually significantly less than a mile, often it's in a tree just adjacent to the mother hive. So it’s hard to know exactly where they came from. If you're interested in bees there are a number of good books on bee biology, and one of those books will answer a lot of your questions.

Please read through the comments. This question was asked and answered previously.

No, no modifications. I went through three versions before getting to this one but this one has worked well for me.

They are a swarm. That's how colonies of bees reproduce.

No, the moving air from the vacuum keeps the hose clear.

Thanks for your note. I continue to make small changes to the design but I'm not going to re-do the video. None of the changes are really significant.

Thanks for the comment about the queen excluder. I had someone else tell the the same thing. Mann Lake (I think it was) sells a QE for the front of the box, but your suggestion for using a piece of plastic QE is less expensive. And just a comment, I never heard of the Colorado Bee Vac until they contacted me one day. They had seen my RUclips post.

If that’s possible I will provide my contact information.

@@kenthompson9769 send me an email and we can talk. mike at socal-beekeeping dot com

When bees swarm, they're generally docile - they don't have a hive and all its stores to protect. In this area, we have Africanized bees so I wear a bee suit "just in case". This swarm was no problem - I could have collected it without protection. Note that I'm not wearing gloves. And just to highlight this - a swarm is not going to attack anyone.

YOO

The bees you see are a swarm. A beehive reproduces by sending out about half of their bees, with a queen, to start a new hive. The group of bees gather together while scout bees go out to search for a place where they can establish their new hive. In a day or so, they will find a place and move into it. Sometimes the place they find is not good for people, such as in the wall of a house.

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

You can use almost any oil that will not evaporate. I use old engine oil, but cooking oil should work, also. One issue: The oil looks like water to the bees so some of them will drown in the oil. I don't know any way around that and it's not very many bees that drown, but be prepared for that.

That is absolutely not correct. Bees will ball a failing queen (they heat her in the ball until she dies) but they do it in the hive when they supersede her with a new queen. They do not do it in a situation such as we have here. The bees in this video are a swarm and they need the queen to survive. If the queen was killed this group of bees would either return to the original hive or they would slowly die off since there would be no new bees hatched.

The bees are not being killed. The opposite if happening. If I left them there they would likely perish. They were moved to a hive.

Thanks for your comment, Hedi. Make sure that every place where you might have an air leak is sealed. For example, between the top and the body you should have weather stripping to seal the joint. Also make sure the bottom slide fits tightly. I have not had any problem with killing bees either when I slide the inner "top" down or when I remove the bottom slide. The inner top should be such a close fit that no bee could get between the wall and the sliding inner top. Same with the bottom slide - it should fit tightly into the slot on the side of the box, such that a bee could not fit anywhere between the slide and the box. The fact that you have bees clinging to the hose indicates that you don't have enough suction. I've never had that issue. It's a shame that you're so far away. If you were closer I could examine you box and perhaps give some advice. Also, the DeWalt batteries are the same. Here they call them "20 Volt Max" but they're really 18 volts in use. Europe only allows them to call them 18 volt. I'd offer two solutions: (1) check for leaks and especially make sure you have a close fit of the sliding inner top and the sliding bottom. Also make sure you have weather stripping between the top and the box. (2) get a more powerful vacuum. You could use a plug-in vacuum but if you do, you need to rig up a bleeder so that the vacuum is not too strong. The bleeder can be a hole in the top with a sliding cover that allows you to adjust how much air comes in through the bleeder. Good luck! As an aside, I have traveled to France many times on business. My mother was French-American but my knowledge of French is minimal.

@@michaelhenderson8281 Thanks for your kind reply Michael! And happy to crash test my device again with your advices! I think I can send you pictures/videos of my frenchstyle bee vacuum but I couldn't find your contact info on RUclips. Any hint? thanks (and I'll teach you some french!)

@@hedigharbi6391 Thanks for your note, Hedi. I have a website socal-beekeeping dot com. You can send me a note at mike @ that URL.

@@michaelhenderson8281 hey mate, how long does the battery last for the dewalt vac (used on your bee vac)??? Do you need a couple of spare batteries on hand for a complete job???

@@jimmy8573 I've been using 5Ah batteries. I never measured how long they last, but the only time I needed a second battery was when I was doing a large, complex cutout. I think it's always a good idea to have backup. Not too long ago, I bought a DeWalt tool that uses the 60 volt batteries. They're actually dual voltage - if you put the battery in a 20 volt tool, they output 20 volts instead of 60 volts. At 20 volts, they're 9Ah. I haven't had a long collection since I got those batteries but I doubt if I'd ever run one of those down on a cutout. On a simple cutout, such as a few I've had of bees in a cable TV box in the ground, one 5Ah battery has been plenty. I also took bees out of a fairly large birdhouse with one 5Ah battery.

Ah, I didn't talk about that. After you put the bee vacuum on the hive and remove the bottom slide, there's a slot where the bottom slid into the bee vacuum. That slot is small but bees can get through it. I made that piece of wood to fit into the slot and block it. Note that when I put the bee vacuum on the hive box, I put an excluder between the brood box and the bottom board. This blocks the queen from leaving the hive. If the queen can't leave, the hive won't abscond. Before I started doing that, occasionally the bees would leave the hive - I suppose they just didn't like the hive. But I have to make sure there are no other ways for the queen to get out of the hive, and one thing I was concerned about is the slot where the bottom slid into. That piece on the side blocks the slot and guarantees that the queen is trapped in the hive. If you put an excluder between your brood box and bottom board, make sure you remove it once the queen starts laying in the hive. Eventually the hive will produce drones and they will be trapped in the hive. Once there's brood in the hive the bees will not abscond - they almost never abandon brood. If you don't have a piece to block the slot, just don't pull the bottom all the way out. - that will work, also.