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Post by Admin on Jul 28, 2014 19:40:36 GMT 1
How do you remove bees from supers during harvesting  |
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Post by Admin on Jul 28, 2014 19:43:06 GMT 1
how about putting 2 empty chambers above the upper super and then moving the frames to the top chamber
would the bees all go down?
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Post by edgallop on Jul 30, 2014 18:19:44 GMT 1
I use a variable speed gas leaf blower and place the super on a trailer or truck with plywood for a cover. I keep the trailer/truck at about 4 to 10 paces from the hives to limit the flow of bees. I do not like bee escapes. They don't work well for me and I don't like keeping the bees off the supers when in the hive. Don't like chemicals either. I just blow them off and stack the supers to transport to my garage for extraction.
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Post by beemandjl on Jul 31, 2014 16:09:42 GMT 1
The blower works fine for stragglers but not for a direct application. If you user queen excluders you can use a blower. Smoke works fair to get them started but too much smoke will taint your honey. I do not use excluders because it can slow them down and cause them to put too much honey up below causing crowding and later swarming. If there is a good flow on and you do not leave your supers on too long you can avoid brood in your honey supers. I just took off 12 5 gallon buckets of Sourwood honey from the Brushy Mountains here in North Carolina. I use Bee-Go and it works quick and the bees get over it pretty quick.
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Post by edgallop on Aug 1, 2014 14:23:19 GMT 1
I put one super on at a time because I don't want too much room. When it is near full I put an empty super "under" it. The bees have less distance to go. I will put a queen excluder between the top full, or nearly full one, and the one under it, making darn sure the queen is not in the full one (rare but happens). When the second one fills I put an empty one under it, repeating the process. I shake off most bees into the hive from every frame before inspecting for the queen and adding the excluder. I also shake off bees before blowing them off at the hive and again if needed when I load and cover on the trailer/truck. I'm retired and it is a hobby so I'm not in a hurry. It may take 2 or 3 morning trips if on hot days. I've never used the chemical Bee-Go but have seen it work with others. I harvested about half the sourwood you did (here in VA's southern Blue Ridge Mountains). However, if I had more hives, as you do, I would seek a faster way, as you do.
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Post by edgallop on Aug 1, 2014 14:45:06 GMT 1
how about putting 2 empty chambers above the upper super and then moving the frames to the top chamber would the bees all go down? You mean... Move the full frames into another super box and place it on top of 2 empty supers? That is basically what I do, except that I don't add 2 empty supers at one time unless the hive is heavily populated. It would be the time to shake and check for the queen if adding an excluder. |
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Post by Admin on Aug 1, 2014 16:29:06 GMT 1
how about putting 2 empty chambers above the upper super and then moving the frames to the top chamber would the bees all go down? You mean... Move the full frames into another super box and place it on top of 2 empty supers? That is basically what I do, except that I don't add 2 empty supers at one time unless the hive is heavily populated. It would be the time to shake and check for the queen if adding an excluder. yes that is what i thought, putting all the honey frames high up for a day or 2 - hoping all bees will go down |
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Post by beemandjl on Aug 3, 2014 10:07:38 GMT 1
That method works wonderful. Your are right in keeping the empty box next to the bees. I have friends that go up to the mountains where I have my bees and put on 3 suppers first and go back and keep adding them. As you say it strings the workforce out over too many supers and slows them down. I am about 1 1/2 hours away from my bees that are above Thurmond NC near Roaring Gap. Your method will yield much more honey than the load them up method. I have heard about a product that smells like almonds that works well. The Bee-Go smells bad and if you stop some were on the way back to get a bite to eats you get some strange looks. If I lived closer to my bees I would most likely do your method. How do you handle hives that you could end up with 6 or 7 supers stacked up?
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