# To vac or not to vac?



## ycitybz (Jan 2, 2012)

It's okay to use the vac when removing the bees. You should try looking for the queen if possible and catch her if you can. If you catch her you can then place her into a nuc or hive, place the hive close by and watch as the bees orient to the box. If you cant find the queen, vacuum up the bees, if there is some brood and honey cut it out and put it onto some empty frames. you can secure the brood and honey to the frames with rubber bands. Once you have sucked up all the bees you can transport them back to your apiary, once home I like to place them into the box I want them in and then they will calm down a little. I would then feed them and check for a queen the next day.


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## Charlie B (May 20, 2011)

I don't believe Beevacs are harmful to bees unless you don't know how to use one. Several of my strongest hives are ones from cutouts using my beevac. It's all in how you control the airflow so as not to kill them with excess velocity and avoiding sucking up chucks of comb that become sticky projectiles. It only takes a few cutouts before you can get pretty good with one. 

As mentioned above, you can save yourself a whole lot of work if you take your time and look for the queen. Put here in a queen clip and place her in the box. The bees in flight will go to the box and then you can suck up the rest of them quickly and dump them in.

There are plenty of YouTube videos using beevacs but my favorite ones and the most educational are the Bickering Beekeepers in Louisiana.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>but is this traumatic to the bees?

I have killed a lot of bees with them. I no longer use them. It is very traumatic and sometimes fatal and it's not necessary. You can do a cutout just fine without one.


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## gibby937 (May 16, 2011)

Thanks for the responses!


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## wdcrkapry205 (Feb 11, 2010)

Using a vac to catch a swarm can cause them to regurgitate all the honey they engorged themselves with when they left the parent hive. It's not a pretty site.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>It's not a pretty site. 

That's a fact. It's a depressing, sad, sticky mess...


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## green2btree (Sep 9, 2010)

When I catch a swarm and can not stay for the stragglers to orient on the hive box I use a vac. I place or drop the main swarm in the hive body I'm using and after they have settled in, I close them up, then vacuum up the remainder with the vac. It is useful when you get some that insist on returning to spot where the swarm used to be. I do it not so much to get every last bee for myself as much as to leave the homeowner with as few bees to worry about as possible. On a cut out I use one to reduce the numbers down if they are a bit hot. I have had almost no kill from using the bee vac, but you have to have it set so it barely sucks up the bees. It also helps, I think, that the hose I use is a recycled hair dryer hose, and is very smooth on the inside. When doing a cut out handle the comb pieces gently, the queen will tend to run rather than fly, and she might be on a comb piece.

JC

JC


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## green2btree (Sep 9, 2010)

Oh, and when the swarm is 15 feet in the air, on a triple, big branched, crotch of the tree, where you can't shake them down or brush them out - you will end up using the bee vac.

JC


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Actually I use a bait hive with QMP and lemongrass oil... they just move in on their own...


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## oklabizznessman (Oct 24, 2011)

whats QMP?


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## ktmwoodsrider (Feb 6, 2011)

QMP= Queen Mandibular Pheromone. I use a vac personally... very little killed. Suck them right into a 10 frame hive box. Key is to use as little suction as possible


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>whats QMP? 
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesglossary.htm
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesterms.htm#q
https://www.mannlakeltd.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=mannlake&Screen=SRCH&sType=1&Search=QMP

I just drop retired queens into alcohol and use the juice from that.


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