Whew!!! Glad that one is over...AND DON'T USE THE OWENS BEE VAC!!!

[joker1656]

The bees I thought were between the floor joists certainly were.  They were also behind a rake board on the exterior, and inside a closet.  If I could have salvaged all of the brood comb, I think I could have filled three deeps.  As it stands, I nearly filled two. 

The comb was in a deep void between the sill plate and floor joists.  We removed the rake board on the outside and had easy access to much of the hive.  We then had to remove drywall in the ceiling on the inside.  That only allowed a gap of about 3-4 inches...barely room to stick my hand.  There was a void, though, of about 8 inches high by about 10-12 inches wide.  This void ran along the joists from the front to the back of the house.  About 4 feet of it was filled with comb.  It was so packed, that to get started most of the first 3 pieces of comb was damaged badly.  I could not fit a knife or a hive tool up there to get started.  It was pretty interesting. 

The hive body is sitting right below the old entrance.  It is two deep boxes, and has all but a couple of frames filled with comb.  Lots and lots of bees, and nice ones to boot.  I was only stung a few times, and that was only when I crushed them picking up a tool or something. 

The Owens Bee Vac suuuuuucks, and not in a good way.  I posted earlier about concerns and questions.  Well, the concerns were validated.  It sucks way too hard, even with the vent wide open.  It is very poorly designed.  Many bees were splattered.  I will be working to make some major mods to it, and hopefully salvage my investment. 

Oh well, ..... maybe pics in the next day or two.  Not overly interesting.   

[Bee Happy]

sorry to hear about the bee vac, I still have to test my homemade one, I'm concerned about the amount of negative pressure myself, but drilling some small holes would solve it and add more ventilation.

[lotsobees]

Does it have some kind of padding for bees to hit when getting sucked in? I would just open up the box with more vents to reduce pressure likely?