Be careful what you wish for

It was a particularly rough day getting a couple yards of topsoil to cover the new flower garden that's by the bee hives.  They warned me that two yards of soil might be too taxing for my truck but since it's a GMC 2500 HD diesel, it didn't seem like much of an issue.   It's just a good thing I didn't have far to go because that truck was loaded to the max.  Pulling a heavy fifth wheel was nothing compared to the weight of the top soil.  And it was a comedy of errors on my part at the soil place.  After he dumped the first load of dirt from the top loader I noticed the tailgate was still down !!!  Lucky I brought a shovel.  The tailgate gave me a lot of trouble though and it took awhile before I could get the second load.  And then I noticed the sign that said no credit cards.  Geez.....  at least there was a bank within walking distance.

Unloading the soil was a big chore and took a long time.  Then the truck needed to be cleaned.  Needless to say when I got home later in the afternoon I was quite tired.  I sat down in the living room to relax and out of the corner of my eye noticed that the swarm trap that was just re-deployed was now covered in another massive swarm of honey bees.  Less than 24 hours and I caught another even bigger swarm.  Third one in 2 weeks.   And like the last one they bearded up on the outside of the swarm trap.  So much for relaxing tonight ...

ANOTHER new swarm only hours after deploying trap

This time I'll act quickly to prevent the beard from flying off like last time.  I've been designing a very cool bee vacuum for a few weeks now.  The idea is still conceptual and a mixture of all the ideas that are floating around on youtube and the internet.  If it works, it will be the best bee vacuum out there.  Because my idea covers all bases.  It will allow gently pulling the bees into a hive that's ready to deploy with frames and all.  The bee vacuum will be a 3 piece unit.  Top has a vacuum built in, middle is the actual deep with frames (hive), and the bottom is a smooth landing pad where the hose connects to pull the bees in.  And the best part is once you're done vacuuming them in, the vacuum disconnects on the top leaving a nice big ventilation screen to keep the girls cool.  That's really important.  The plans are in my mind and I'm confident of the feasibility.    Plus I have extra wood and most of what I need to fabricate it in the morning.  Should be interesting.