Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => EQUIPMENT USAGE, EXPERIMENTATION, HIVE PLANS, CONSTRUCTION TIPS AND TOOLS => Topic started by: danno on March 05, 2013, 03:51:44 pm
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I am just finishing a beevac based on the photos from Robo. All I need to do to finish it is buy a suction hole and cut the hole to install it. I was thinking that if I went with a 2" hose with a 1" reduced end that it would increase suction only at the tip but velocity would drop off instantly after they were sucked up. I'm sure this has been tried many times in the past. Question is it worth doing
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No response. OK let me ask this how many use the smaller 1 1/4" hose and how many use the 2" hose. Do you have a preference. My vac is a 1 1/4 but I have to buy the hose and fitting for the suction side. 2" is 30% higher then 1 1/4
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I use 2" for two reasons. One it fits my other shop vac two bigger hole to suck with. Not as much blockage from a clump of bees
David
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Thanks David
As I stated the one I built is from Robos pics. It has the sloped bottom board to gentallly bring them up to the frames in the box above. I was thinking of glueing felt to this slop with the thought that it will be softer on them and they can easily get there footing and walk up to the hive body. Any thoughts?
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Once the bees are in the collection box (whether it is a hive body or screened box) the pressure is reduced and the bees can crawl about easily. I doubt you'll need the felt, just make sure you have a relief valve of some sort in the system so that you can adjust the suction down to where it will gently pull the bees in.
Scott
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Hi Danno,
I'll be building a vac myself as soon as the snow leaves. I intend to stencil something like ROBOVAC COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT on the side :)
My concern is that a 1" nozzle opening might be inclined to suck up honey (not good from what I've read).
Of course if you're constructed with 2" or 2.5" hose then changing tip size is an easy mod.
Would love to see some pics of the finished model!
Dennis
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My main use for this is to vac bee's off my windows during harvest time and swarms that I cant shake so honey shouldn't be a issue. "INFRINGEMENT " LOL
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I have both the 1 1/4 and the 2 inch hoses. I use the first one I grab. With good control of the vacuum power, I see no difference.
PS. I have the flat upholstery end to fit both for tight areas and to increase the pickup power without increasing the vac power when needed.
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Mine main one is a Robo. I use vac fitting from the woodwork supply house to hook up hoses. one day I am going to weld up some due to breakage.
David
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Last night I was eyeballing my wifes whole house vac hose. I wonder if she would miss it.
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Last night I was eyeballing my wifes whole house vac hose. I wonder if she would miss it.
lol you're brave
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Last night I was eyeballing my wifes whole house vac hose. I wonder if she would miss it.
Good idea but how would I do our vacuuming? :?
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I use swimming pool cleaner hose. Has 38mm inside diameter.
Geoff
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danno, I was re-reading through this and saw where you were contemplating putting felt on the sloped board of the bottom. I would be hesitant to do that being as bee legs might get caught up in the fuzz trapping or injuring a good many bees. The Aussies are using Handi-Wipe types of wipes as SHB traps but report some bees get trapped in the "fuzz" also. There are also reports of using "felt" as a trap. Just thought I'd mention it...
Ed
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Thanks Ed I finished the vac without the felt idea last weekend. I am still kicking around a upgraded model using a nutone central vac hose with a nutone flush wall mount fitting. These are low voltage with a switch at the nozzle end. A simple relay, 12volt transformer and 110 power supply and the shop vac could be operated with the touch of a thumb right off the nozzle. Also the wall adaptors have a spring loaded door that would shut when the hose is removed
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While vacuuming bees you need to leave it running when you have bees in the catch box. The suction creates excess heat and it's enough to cook them when not running. Always have a screened top under the lid that you can expose after shut off. I also carry a spray bottle of water to give them a drink through the screen.