busy as a bee

I have been busy on a new construction project for my cutouts.

I have been building a new version of the bee vacuum. I use it for cutouts to gently suck up the bees off the comb as it is removed from a structure such as a house or building.

 I added suction reducing holes in the sides to allow me to better regulate the amount of vacuum force that is removing the bees from the comb. Too much suction slams the bees into the tube and bounces them around and then slams them into the wall of the super both of which can kill them.

 I added a plexiglass top to allow me to see how the bees are doing and if I have the suction too great.

The middle white super has older drawn comb in it to give the bees a head start. All I have to do is remove the top and bottom of the vac when done, and place the middle on a bottom board and put a top on it and I have a hive ready to go. I can also add supers to the vac if needed for larger cutouts.

I am not going to give away all of my secrets for the vac, but it does have a few ingenious ways for collecting the bees and storing them.