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Vacuuming up swarms!! What do you think about this?
annette:
There is a beekeeper around here that told me he is getting lots of swarm calls and he vacuums them up. Makes the job very easy.
It sounded strange to me because I know they have their belly's full of honey.
Anyone have any feelings about this??
Scadsobees:
It must not be too big of a deal because if he came home with a mass of soggy dead bees, he'd stop vacuuming them, right? :)
A good vacuum calibrated correctly will not harm any more bees than a shake down will. Even with full bellies.
I vacuumed one last year that I couldn't get to move into a box (freezing nights, stupid bees?), and they came home just fine, I didn't notice any dead ones.
Rick
slacker361:
http://robo.bushkillfarms.com/beekeeping/bee-vac/
Grandpa Jim:
I made one of Robo's Vacs. It has worked great when I have used it(small vac, does not draw too hard). But I did have one swarm way up on a pine, no way to get it but to put every bit of hose and tubing together to reach it. They came home honey soaked and I lost them(that long ride through the hose did them in). So use as little hose as possible and they do seem to work well when other methods will not.
asprince:
I have hived hundreds of swarms with a Robo designed bee vac. I use it for 99% of my swarms. It is fast and I can get nearly all the bees without having to come back later to pick up the hive.
Steve
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