# bellows type dusters are junk



## rmthurman (Jul 23, 2007)

caveat emptor, let the buyer beware.
i bought one of the bellows type dusters a couple weeks ago and after several tries have come to the conclusion that it's cheap chinese crap. the main problem with it is that the powdered sugar won't feed out of the little hopper. you have to continually tap and shake on it which causes the cap to fall off the top and the tube falls off the bottom. even when you get it to work it's not like you're dusting the bees as much as throwing the sugar at them. this just pisses them off so you best have some gear on. found that out the hard way. maybe it's just me,if any of you folks have had better luck let me know. tia:doh:


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## K. Szegi (Mar 17, 2008)

Sure wish your post would've been a week earlier!! Just got the "duster" in and just came in from giving it the first try ..... and am still cussing at the darn thing. Had the same problems you did .... what a complete waste of money!


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## tct1w (Jun 6, 2008)

Thanks for the heads up. I was thinking about getting one. Thanks Dave


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## Walt McBride (Apr 4, 2004)

Have you related your problem to the person you bought from?
Walt


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

I have the one from dadante when you pump the bellows a Little scraper moves in the hopper, cleaning the bottom. I know if the sugar isn't completely dry it can have problems.

What I don't like is that it takes 200 pumps to get a cup of sugar through it.


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## CentralPAguy (Feb 8, 2009)

I am sorry to hear that they don't work very well as I was hoping that they did and was going to place an order for one.

So what are our Viable options in dusting our bees with 10X sugar. What are others using. I think I read somewhere that someone was using a flour sifter, but I sweat too much and I can just see me leaning over the flour sifter with 10X sugar in it and the sweat dripping into the sugar -- What a mess, I would have.

I sometimes get Carpal Tunnel Syndome in my hands/wrists when I do alot of repetitive action such as pumping one of these bellow dusters that have come onto the market.

Hope you don't mind too much if I slightly hijack this thread, but the question goes out to this Forum for those that are treating their bees with 10X sugar -- How are you getting the 10X sugar onto the bees??


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## CSP (May 9, 2009)

Just posted this on another thread, thought I should repost it here.

I have a bellows-type duster that I hated at first, until I realized I was using it wrong. 

Initially, I couldn't get enough powdered sugar out of the bellows, but then my wife pointed out that I should keep the cup that holds the powdered sugar horizontal so that the weight of the sugar was pressing it down into the bellows shifter. 

Once I did this consistently, the bellows has worked great, putting out a large volume of very fine sugar dust.


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## Flyman (Jun 11, 2007)

Ditto CSP. Also, the sugar needs to be dry. If you have some thats been lying around or previously open and not resealed, it won't work well.


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## PCM (Sep 18, 2007)

The easiest I have found is the old method:
Make a hive sized box about 2 or 3 in. deep covered with plain old window screen. Dump sugar in, use bee brush to spread.

Takes about 15 seconds ! :applause:

PCM


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

We just dump our powdered sugar in a kitchen screened colander, & tap it. Only takes a few seconds.


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

Hi CSP,
I have a question. If you put one cup of powdered sugar in you're hopper how long/ how many pumps does it take you to blow the cup out?




CSP said:


> Just posted this on another thread, thought I should repost it here.
> 
> I have a bellows-type duster that I hated at first, until I realized I was using it wrong.
> 
> ...


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## CSP (May 9, 2009)

Hi Dan,

One cup through the bellows would take many, many pumps. I've read people on hear saying 200 pumps and that number wouldn't surprise me. But I've been happy with using much less than a cup on each hive. I give the bellows maybe 30 pumps and have a good deal of sugar coming out the top of the hive. The bellows seems to distribute the sugar better and the sugar dust is VERY fine, much finer than I get using the sifter method.

This is my first year using the bellows. I hated it at first, but I'm giving it a second chance now that I've learned how to use it better.

My impression is that with the sifter, a lot of the sugar is wasted. With the bellows, it all goes into the hive as a very fine powder. So I don't believe that a full cup is necessary using the bellows, but only time will tell.

So far my mite counts continue to be under control.


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

Thanks for the answer, I know all the advertising says to use a cup, but I also found that to be impractical.


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## BWrangler (Aug 14, 2002)

Hi Guys,

Sifting sugar through a screen gets some mites. But sugar dusting is most effective when it's applied in a 'smoke' form rather than in clumps. 

A varroa blaster is free to make. And it produces sugar smoke.

Check out http://bwrangler.litarium.com/varroa-blaster/

Sugar dusting, in any form, takes more work and can be disruptive. I've tried to automate the process by using a bee blower and injecting it into the hive entrance. But, all I've been able to accomplish is providing fodder for the world's funniest videos, had anyone been watching and recording :>)

If treatment is a must and I haven't treated in a decade. Then oxalic acid vapors are my choice over sugar dusting.


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## CentralPAguy (Feb 8, 2009)

Okay,

I used the window screen method and I probably used more 10X sugar than I should have used -- I then used a bee brush and it brushed the sugar thru the window screen.

It took me about 10 minutes per hive to apply the 10X sugar with this method. A hive consisted of 1 deep and 3 or 4 shallows. I thought it was fast. I had smoked the bees and only had a few bees coming at me. 

I took the screen off the supers/hives and there was likely a 1/4 inch of 10X sugar on top of the frames, which I then brushed onto the bees. I was hoping for it to create more dust, so it leads me back to the bellows. 

Is anyone else reporting success on the usage of bellows?


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## walking bird (Mar 2, 2008)

well, shoot... I've got one coming my way in an order from Brushy Mtn. Guess I'll give it a shot... It actually as fairly easy to just shake it from a mason jar shaker, as I did here: http://www.homegrownbees.blogspot.com

However, I thought the bellows might be more effective at getting evenly spread throughout the hive. We'll see...


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## kenpkr (Apr 6, 2004)

Here's the link to the blaster that BWrangler was trying to link to-

http://bwrangler.litarium.com/varroa-blaster/


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## kejramer (Jun 6, 2009)

Would a Seven duster work? The kind at your local old fashion hardware/farm store. Buy a new one that has never had insecticide in it of course. The 10X and Seven dust are about the same consistency.
Keith


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## Kingfisher Apiaries (Jan 16, 2010)

Take a measuring cup full of powdered sugar, dump on the top bars, and then push it down between the top bars w/ the measuring cup. ALL of the bees are covered. 
Kingfisher


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## D Coates (Jan 6, 2006)

PCM said:


> The easiest I have found is the old method:
> Make a hive sized box about 2 or 3 in. deep covered with plain old window screen. Dump sugar in, use bee brush to spread.
> 
> Takes about 15 seconds ! :applause:
> ...


Same here. I use a bee brush to "sweep" the sugar across the screen. This ensures the powered sugar clumps are all busted up and the sugar is powder fine by the time it gets through. I then lift off the screen and sweep the sugar on the frame tops off between the frames, then walk away. From start to finish it takes no more than 2 minutes a hive.


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