Bushkill Bee Vac

[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.