# 5 gal bucket bee vac



## allniter (Aug 22, 2011)

has any one come up with any new ideals on making one ---want something light 

I have one that I use --a DEEP with a shop vac ---works great but heavy--


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## J-Rat (Dec 10, 2013)

I made this a few months ago. Have not had a chance to use it yet. I also made a second insert/cage.


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## Denniston (Mar 19, 2015)

J-Rat said:


> I made this a few months ago. Have not had a chance to use it yet. I also made a second insert/cage.



I like the looks of your beevac. That is very clean, compact. Doesn't seem cumbersome with a vac and a hive body. Do you have a way to regulate the suction?


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## Beregondo (Jun 21, 2011)

It does make a nice compact unit...
...but how are you going to keep the hundreds of bees crowded in there under the hot motor from overheating without stopping to dump it every 10 minutes?

A larger recpticle and more more ventilation will result in far fewer dead bees ( and many more live ones) to put in your hive.

Have fun.
Enjoy your bees.


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## Denniston (Mar 19, 2015)

Beregondo said:


> It does make a nice compact unit...
> ...but how are you going to keep the hundreds of bees crowded in there under the hot motor from overheating without stopping to dump it every 10 minutes?
> 
> A larger recpticle and more more ventilation will result in far fewer dead bees ( and many more live ones) to put in your hive.
> ...


Would be an interesting experiment to run the vac for say 1 hr, and measure the temperature in the bucket.


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## J-Rat (Dec 10, 2013)

Denniston said:


> Would be an interesting experiment to run the vac for say 1 hr, and measure the temperature in the bucket.


 I cut another hole with a sliding cover to regulate the suction. With the inlet on the bucket head. / Hose inlet. and the additional hole in the bucket. The suction at the hose is low. I made two screened chambers so I can swap out if the 1st gets full. I also put a sliding door on the chambers so the bees can ride home outside of the bucket.
I just tested to see if there was a problem with heat. Ran it for 45 min. With all the air going in thru the hose and other hole in the bucket. There was no heat.
As stated, I have not tried this out yet. Time will tell.


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

The bucket is cooled by the air that is coming from the inlet hose I would imagine.

I run a medium super sized bee vac with a shop vac about 20 feet away. I'll take heavy over major noise any day.


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## marshmasterpat (Jun 26, 2013)

I have 3 five gallon hydraulic oil jugs I use. And it was bio-degradable oil as well, plus has been washed enough times with DAWN dishwashing soap, I would have eaten out of it. They are all set up the same way as below.

Left the drain spout on the lid of the jug. This where the hose from the vacuum to the jug is attached. Hot glued a screen over the hole for the spout on under side of the lid. Keeps bees from being sucked up. Then last fall added a screen cone over the hole to allow more air intake area around the hose to the vacuum. Gorilla glue holds the hose on to the spout. Need to improve that weak link.

Have a hole in the side of jug that has a 25 foot vacuum hose that fits into it. I agree with Mr. Beeman the further the vacuum if from me the nicer the job is. 

Have pieces of screen cut the height of the bucket that are 8 inches wide. This gives the bees something to crawl up on. And then I have 4 (four) hole cut into the sides of the bucket that are 2 1/2 inches diameter (maybe 3 inches). Have silicon on screens over these holes for ventilation. I cover these holes with blue painter's tape and leave about 1/2 inch gap on one hole as a suction control. I adjust the amount of suction by increasing or decreasing the size of the opening. Once I am done or going to swap buckets, just peel off the tape and maximize ventilation. Spray a shot or three of water mist in each hole and we are good to go. 

With this volume of storage, I can load up quite a few bees. 

I will be honest, I killed about half the first two cut outs I did due to overheating and such. But that was ignorance on the operator. Plus left one bucket in the sun while finishing the cut out. The last three jobs, I didn't have more that 10 to 20 dead bees. 

Love the bushvac concept, but my shop tools might need to be upgraded before I build something like that. So the bucket brigade works. Plus it is dog cheap.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

here is mine unfortunately I haven't used it on bees yet either , but I can tune it to where it barely sucks little paper wads off the carpet


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

Harley,
Where did you get the plastic screening from?


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

walmart it's for cross stitch in the craft isle. It lines the entire inside of the bucket and the sides are plastic welded in with heat gun and an old screw driver.


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## Denniston (Mar 19, 2015)

marshmasterpat said:


> I have 3 five gallon hydraulic oil jugs I use. And it was bio-degradable oil as well, plus has been washed enough times with DAWN dishwashing soap, I would have eaten out of it. They are all set up the same way as below.
> 
> Left the drain spout on the lid of the jug. This where the hose from the vacuum to the jug is attached. Hot glued a screen over the hole for the spout on under side of the lid. Keeps bees from being sucked up. Then last fall added a screen cone over the hole to allow more air intake area around the hose to the vacuum. Gorilla glue holds the hose on to the spout. Need to improve that weak link.
> 
> Have a hole in the side of jug that has a 25 foot vacuum hose that fits into it. I agree with Mr. Beeman the further the vacuum if from me the nicer the job is.


Not quite following you. Any Pictures?



marshmasterpat said:


> Love the bushvac concept, but my shop tools might need to be upgraded before I build something like that. So the bucket brigade works. Plus it is dog cheap.


Not familiar with the bushvac. Link?


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## Cub (Feb 14, 2013)

This setup is hard to beat, and the mini Shop Vac was on sale for $20. This entire setup was maybe $30 total, and all of the wood for the cage is scrap.

I have considered going with the hive body style vac, that pulls them into something that can be placed on a super for release, but this one works so well and is so light weight, it makes no sense for me to change up my system. Most of the cutouts I have done with this one have less than a couple dozen dead bees left in the vac when the job is complete. I suggest putting in a piece of foam to pad the area where they enter the screen from the vac hose, and make the suction infinitely adjustable (even duct tape over vent holes if needed) to decrease the kill numbers as much as possible.

J


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## nlk3233 (May 19, 2014)

John that is really nice. ill have to copy it.
Could you post some other pictures?


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## tommyt (Aug 7, 2010)

These look good 
I would hang a couple of pieces of screen or Plasticel 
In your containment boxes 
I have found the bees to Die if they are laying or crawling on one another 
As soon as we hung screens for the to climb one death rate about died


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

Pretty slick idea harley


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

Mr.Beeman said:


> Pretty slick idea harley


thanks but I can't take credit google" moots bee vac " to see the original inventor. The last time a used a bushkill style I ran out of hose and was a pia to reset that heavy thing on top of the step ladder I was trying to climb. I added a gun sling to this one and its light enough to sling it over my shoulder and climb a ladder if needed


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

Very similar to the photos above, I made a 5-gallon bucket bee vacuum with an old 2 HP Shop Vac. It had a 1.5" hose that I cut to fit into a PVC ball valve to control intake speed. The PVC fittings went to a 90 degree elbow fitted into the bucket. I screwed wooden legs onto the bottom of the bucket so it stood above the PVC fittings. Inside the bucket was a basket - 2 plywood discs with #8 hardware cloth stapled around the circumference, overlapped about 2 inch and stitched with galvanized wire. There is a 2" thick, soft, foam pad in the bottom of the basket for if they come in too fast, they survive the crash. 

The top plywood disc was cut again to fit a coffee can, which I cut around the first ripple (about 2 inches down from the top). The bottom edge of the cut I snipped flaps (about 3/4") to flatten against the bottom of the upper plywood disc. I attached these flaps with brads. The coffee can had a large enough opening that the bees being vacuumed passed through the hose and into the cage without being hurt. The plastic lid sealed the bees into the cage so I could keep them contained. The whole basket and coffee can assembly fits inside the bucket. I learned that one should make several such inner baskets for big jobs.

The bucket lid was fitted with plywood discs and PVC fittings for a 2.5" vacuum hose. The larger hose gets the speed just about right so the bees don't die when they go into the basket. The bees only go through the 2.5" hose, not the small one.

This vacuum rig worked perfectly on my first job, then was stolen on the way home, along with the vacuum and my bicycle. The bees were joined with a weak colony and the honey was fed outside the hive - at least that part was a success.


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