Bushkill Bee Vac

[Robo]

I've had a bee vac design in my mind for almost a year now but never got around to putting saw to board.   Finally spent a day and got one built.  I always found the bee vac to be one of my essential tools, but seemed to have issues with emptying the bees into a new hive.  So the main principle of this bee vac is not to have to dump them when done.   You can see all the details here -> http://robo.bushkillfarms.com/beekeeping/bee-vac/

[Jerrymac]

a problem I had with my sliding door was rolling bees and squishing them through between the floor and the back wall. Thought about putting a little plastic lip or something on there. Never did. I am going to redesign the inner box.

[Agility Mom]

This looks really good. I have always wanted a bee vac so maybe now I can make one. Does the vac have to be any particular power?

[Jerrymac]

You don't want it too powerful. Just enough to barely pull the bees off the comb.

[Robo]

Does the vac have to be any particular power?

It has to suck strong enough to break the bees grip on the comb.   Mine says 5HP (peak).  You should always have a by-pass in your vac so that you can adjust the suction at the hose.  Too much suction and you can kill the bees when they hit the inside of the vacuum.
Just like the saying, "Driving fast doesn't kill you, it is the sudden stop that does".

[JP]

Rob, looks good, does it work for honeybees also? 

I could have used this the other day on a cut-out I did that had old unusable comb, and comb that was spray painted red. Great idea, I think that it could work for honeybees, looks like it anyway. Have you tried it yet? Great job!


...JP

[Angi_H]

I would love to have one of those. And sure could have used one on that last cut out. But with my hubby being a firefighter It looks like him building me one wont bee till the cows come home and that will be a while. I love the design you have done. So you have the frames already in the boxes as well. I would love to have the plans for it but like I said before getting hubby to build me one will be forever. I still dont have my kitchen done from going on 3 years ago. And my other turkey grow out pen is not done as well as the other quail cage is not built. It would be nice though and I like the idea of just being able to bring them home and letting them settle and go to bed. And check back later on them.  Yup would be nice. (hubby wont let me use his table saw) So maybe one of these days I will get one. Looks nice  and easy.


Angi

[buzzbee]

Great setup Robo,
Might encourage me to o build one.

[Robo]

Rob, looks good, does it work for honeybees also? 

Have you tried it yet? Great job!

I hope it works

Haven't had a chance to try it yet.  Have a removal all lined up,  just waiting for the weather to co-operate.

Though this hasn't stopped people from wanting one.  I already have orders, but told them I won't ship any until I test it out.  I guess folks find it more practical than that pyramid hive

[JP]

Rob, looks good, does it work for honeybees also? 

Have you tried it yet? Great job!

I hope it works

Haven't had a chance to try it yet.  Have a removal all lined up,  just waiting for the weather to co-operate.

Though this hasn't stopped people from wanting one.  I already have orders, but told them I won't ship any until I test it out.  I guess folks find it more practical than that pyramid hive

Let us know how it works out, it looks awesome!


...JP

[Cindi]

Rob, wow!!!  You have put alot of thought into this project and you did it!!!  Yeah, that is one impressive looking system,    Have the most beautiful and wonderful day, Cindi

[Angi_H]

How much would you charge to build one. All it is is a top and bottom right. TO place on the 10 frame hives right? How about a nuc one? Anyway I am trying to figure out how I am going to work out getting one.


Angi

[mudlakee]

Ok I want one also. I will come and pick it up  Tony

[magnet-man]

My wife uses a shop vac hooked up to her industrial surger to suck the thread into the thread cutter. Ended up hooking up a lamp dimmer to control the noise and suction. Might be a good idea to keep the noise down when collecting your own swarms by your house. The less the neighbors know about your bees the better.

[gmcharlie]

I love it,  gonna make me one too,  I am going to try the Dewalt cordless vac though so it becomes a bit more portable!

[Cockatoo]

Oh my goodness.
That looks like a box of VERY angry bees just waiting to happen.
Reverse it and it's a firehose of angry bees! 

[MustbeeNuts]

Rob, didn't see any plans for your new beevac on your site, any plans on putting one up? or did I just miss it. I'm not creative at all. Basically wood building impaired.

[asprince]

http://robo.bushkillfarms.com/beekeeping/bee-vac/

I personally can not say enough good things about Rob's bee vac design. We have built two and they work fantastic. We have collected 35 swarms this year, all with the vac. We just vacuum them straight into the hive body. Very few bees get killed.

Steve

[ArmucheeBee]

I used my bushkill vac last week on a hive in a crawl space.  same exact designed but I probably killed 1/2.  at first my vac was not enough then i taped the hose joints and it picked up some more suck!  i guess it was too much.  i was using an eight foot corrugated hose on the sucking end, same on the other.  is there a location to buy smooth hose in GA steve?  how's that queen doing?  and what are doing with all those swarms?

[asprince]

You need a way to adjust the flow. You want just enough suction to pull in the bees.

Sucked up three more swarms today.

The queen is doing great.

Steve

[Robo]

I used my bushkill vac last week on a hive in a crawl space.  same exact designed but I probably killed 1/2.  at first my vac was not enough then i taped the hose joints and it picked up some more suck!  i guess it was too much.  i was using an eight foot corrugated hose on the sucking end, same on the other.  is there a location to buy smooth hose in GA steve?  how's that queen doing?  and what are doing with all those swarms?

Couple of things to keep in mind.   You want to use as minimal suction as possible.  I usually set it so it doesn't quite have enough suction to pull them off the comb/cluster and use the tool on the end of the hose to cokes them free.  Also DO NOT suck up bees that have honey on them when doing a cut out.   You will end up with a sticky ball of dead bees.  Of course it is all relative,  a few with a little honey on them is OK, but don't go crazy. Also make sure you keep the vac out of the sun and remove the top to give ventilation.  Although overheating is not as much of a problem with this design verses the box in a box design, it is still possible.

 I use the corrugated hose, as do many others who successfully use the design,  so merely switching to smooth hose is not going to solve your problem.

[ArmucheeBee]

got it.  one problem was not having the vac/box near me.  i was in the crawl space and had to squeeze through a 13x13 in. opening in the floor.  the homeowner was turning the vac on and off.   

do you all use the attachment that is long and slim and can fit between combs?  mine is about 2.5x.75 at the very end.  i try to use this before cutting the comb.

[Highlandsfreedom]

great idea!!!!!!!!

[troutstalker2]

   I have a vac thats 2 peak horsepower, do you think that is sufficient for this application?

  Thanks, David

[asprince]

Yes. Watch for areas that will leak.


Steve

[Robo]

I have heard some folks having success with as small as 1.5HP

The smaller the motor, the more you have to be concerned with leaks and it also limits the length of hose you can use.

[Greywulff]

Really good idea Robo, just one thing. I've looked around local stores yesterday and a vac's in Ireland are rated in Volts ie; 1000v, 1200v, 1400v and up to 1800v was the biggest I've seen so far and all corded vac's, The hand held (portables) are 14v 18v like the cordless drills etc but they only have a battery life of 10-20 minutes rubish really. Does anyone know what size I should look at as I don't know how to convert Volts to HP. Cheers.

[asprince]

Greywulff, are you sure the ratings are in volts and not watts? If that is the watt rating, multiply that number x .00314 for HP.

1000 x .00314 = 3.14 HP


Steve

[Greywulff]

Good job your awake  yes you are right it is watts sorry I'm not eletrically minded. Thanks for the conversion Rate. 

[handymandave]

Thanks for the good info and careful work.
As a professional woodworker, it looks quite straightforward. I will build one as soon as I get a break in the paying work! LOL!

[David LaFerney]

Really good idea Robo, just one thing. I've looked around local stores yesterday and a vac's in Ireland are rated in Volts ie; 1000v, 1200v, 1400v and up to 1800v was the biggest I've seen so far and all corded vac's, The hand held (portables) are 14v 18v like the cordless drills etc but they only have a battery life of 10-20 minutes rubish really. Does anyone know what size I should look at as I don't know how to convert Volts to HP. Cheers.

I know this is an old thread, but...

Google will do all kinds of conversions like that for you if you just enter it into a google search.  For example if you google  1000 watts in horsepower You get this -    
1000 watts = 1.34102209 horsepower 

It works for all kinds of things - converting stones to pounds,  years to seconds, parsecs to light years.  Oodles of usefulness.

[USC Beeman in TN]

Purchased 1 from Robo earlier this year.  He did a rush order for me and I sure appreciated it!  Have used it 4 times on cutouts and 1 time to get the bees out of a water meter.

[asprince]

This looks like a good start for a bee vac.

http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardware-Wet-Dry-Vacuums/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xr5Zb8pi/R-202017218/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053


Steve

[Robo]

This looks like a good start for a bee vac.

http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardware-Wet-Dry-Vacuums/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xr5Zb8pi/R-202017218/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053


Steve

I actually took a look at one the other day.  Besides being under powered and too small diameter hose,  the thing has a full size filter that takes up at least half the bucket

[montauk170]

Hi, newbee here and found your wonderful design.

Got a question, why not reverse the IN and OUT?
Right now you have sucking in from the bottom.
If you put the mesh on the bottom, and suck from top,
then wouldn't adding framed combs from a removal to say the second upper deep easier since
the bees will all be at the bottom?

[Robo]

If you put the mesh on the bottom, and suck from top,
then wouldn't adding framed combs from a removal to say the second upper deep easier since
the bees will all be at the bottom?

Not following your logic,  if you sucked the bees into the top,  they will be in the top hive body not the bottom.   By using the cut-out shim,  brood frames can easily be added to the upper hive body and the bees in the lower hive body can easily be rejoined with the brood (and queen if you found her) on site by pulling the shim screen.

Got a question, why not reverse the IN and OUT?

Mainly because any debris you suck up will be dumped on the top of the hive, an issue with using the box in a box type beevac.  By sucking in the bottom, all the debris lays on the bottom board and does not end up all through the hive.

[montauk170]

I guess it was late and I was thinking the vacuum would be so strong it would suck the bees towards the other end. I guess it's just enough so the bees can hang onto the frames.
Thanks!

[The Bix]

Robo, I built one of these things a few months ago, I used it to capture my first swarm.  It worked great, thanks for the design and the effort to post it.

[The Bix]

Here's some video of the Robo's design in action.  It's a little limited as I was by myself collecting this small swarm.  Early in the first video you can see me going back and forth to regulate the vacuum to get it just right.  When I was done and pulled the bottom off, I found zero dead bees.  Thanks again Robo:

Harris' Bees meet John's Bee Vac

Harris Bee Swarm & John's Bee Vac (Part II)

I combined this small swarm with a struggling hive.