I love it when a plan comes together

Despite the fact that my table saw wasn't working, the bee vacuum came together very quickly this morning.  Since I was rushing, it was a little rough around the edges but once the bees are relocated the bee vacuum will get sanded down and finished.  I didn't have caulk so I used duct tape which sealed the areas just fine.  Total construction time was 3 hours which wasn't bad.  Everything just came together with no problems at all.  Everything fit first time and all my zany ideas actually worked.

But the first thing I did this morning was spray the swarm down with sugar water to buy me some time and keep them from swarming again. 

Time to gather the bees.  The saw horses that were used in the construction were moved by the tree to make a table to put the bee vacuum on.  I then connected the hoses and ran an extension cord out.  After putting on the bee suit, it took about 45 minutes of gently pulling the bees into the vacuum hose.  Despite being a 2.5" hose, the bees clogged up the hose a couple times and I had to wiggle the hose and hold it up to persuade them to stay in the hive.  The pressure was perfect.  Not too much but just the right amount.  That was pure luck.

Bee Vacuum ready to work

After 45 minutes, my neck was getting a little sore.  Halfway through the process I cleared the entrance to the swarm trap and plugged that up to take with us.  At this point I didn't have a clue what was inside the swarm trap.  As the weather's starting to heat up around here, I was drenched in sweat after gathering the swarm.  The vacuum motor was then disconnected and removed from the bee vacuum to allow ventilation into the deep box now full of bees and frames.  There were a few stragglers but most were in the box.

Deploying the new hive at the bee farm was quite simple.  I lit the smoker and then the first thing I did was position the landing pad/base/bottom board on the platform.  Then the ratchet straps were removed and after smoking the vacuum the deep was placed on the bottom board.  Then the top was removed and the inner cover and outer cover were installed.  It only took a few minutes.  By this time there were a lot of buzzing and not the happiest bees in the world zipping around.  A bunch were clumped on the vacuum top and bottom so those parts were shaken off to add even more flying bees to the mayhem.   Oh and the Nuc was opened up and was empty !!!  It's a good thing they were captured with the bee vac because they might have flown off in a swarm. 

Tomorrow it's time to inspect the other hives and I suspect that they may be reaching capacity.  Some medium frames are coming in the mail today.  I couldn't resist having a little peek into those hives and wasn't expecting how packed full of bees they were.  After seeing numerous bees on the inner cover and crowded around the inner cover hole I decided to wait until tomorrow to continue so I wouldn't disrupt the hives too much.  Adding the medium supers tomorrow probably should happen so they don't run out of room and possibly swarm.

And then there were four

As the new arrivals are numerous and not in the best mood I decided to leave and let them all calm down.  Everything worked out even better than I expected.  PLUS there were no dead bees in the entire vacuuming operation which is a plus. 

Newest Hive (far right) painted by mom

Visitors to the new hives

Today I loaded the truck up with the finished hives and took them out to the bee farm to paint.  Two of the deep boxes were loaded with frames that had wax foundation in them.  The primary task however was to build the ant proof platform and pour concrete around the footing to hold it firmly in place.  Lots to do.

Galvanized pipes ready to take the T Handles (laying on the concrete block)  once the concrete dries

After about an hour of working on the platform I had to get something out of my truck and noticed that I left the two deep hives with the wax foundation sitting on the passenger front seat.  The heat from the truck being closed up gave the wax a sweet aroma and made the truck smell nice.  Before it got too hot though I decided to take them out of the truck and placed them on a lounge chair outside.

Imagine my surprise about a half hour later when I looked in that direction and noticed 4-5 honey bees checking out the new hive.  So I immediately added the bottom board, base and top boards to make a complete hive for the visitors.  The visits continued for several hours and a couple of the bees actually went into the new unpainted hive.  Quite cool and it made my day.

14 foot hive platform with a little paint

The base was completed and while the concrete dried I painted the wooden platform that sits on it.  Also painted one of the unpainted hives before calling it a day.   

Frames to construct

Last night the UPS guy showed up with 100 unassembled frames and 100 sheets of plastic waxed foundation.  Once I get some of the frames assembled, the two swarm lures I built can be baited and set outside.

Foundation (in the box) and some of the frame parts

The only challenge with making 100 frames (or at least half of them) is all the time required to glue, nail and square them up.  To do them individually would be a daunting task.  So off to my beloved youtube to see what types of jigs people have made to assemble their frames.

I finally settled on several different designs and modified them to use some of the scrap lumber I had laying around.  The end result worked wonderful and I was able to crank out the frames in no time.  Some of the designs I saw were for adjustable frame jigs that could be used for deep, medium or shallow supers.  Instead of an adjustable jib, I just made a little platform for it when making the deeps.  Mediums and shallows will work by just removing the platform.

Frame jig loaded with side pieces

After placing a half dozen frames and foundations in the traps/lures, some old brood honeycomb was added as well as a cottonball with several drops of lemon grass oil AND some bee pheromone bait was added (found on EBAY).  One swarm lure was placed in front of our home where bees seem to love it and the other was placed on our bee farm up against some palms.  It will be fun to see if we can attract a swarm.  We attended the Pinellas Beekeepers group last night and the consensus was the swarming may be starting earlier this year as their bees have been quite active already.  Attending the Pinellas beekeeper group was a great experience.  Very laid back group with some cool personalities.  The wife and I both enjoyed talking with everyone there.

Swarm traps

The first two deep hive bodies I built had a few imperfections that rendered them unusable to use in a hive.  But many lessons were learned.

However they will work for use as a certain type of swarm trap that has been churning in my mind recently.   Our house has seen more than it's share of swarms due to the "jungle look" style of landscaping I've employed.  Bees seem to love it here.  In July of 2007 one swarm arrived just hours before 200 people were to show up at our home after our son's funeral service.

Back then I knew nothing about swarms or bees other than we knew that we could not allow a large swarm of bees only 2 feet away from the walkway to our front door.  So our other son, my wife and I spent several hours before the funeral in a mad frenzy to disperse the swarm using a garden hose and I'm embarrassed to admit... wasp spray.  It took awhile but we did manage to clear the way for the many guests who were to arrive in a few hours.  I sometimes think that maybe it was our son's way of keeping us busy before the funeral to take our minds away from the grief.

Since then, several other swarms have shown up and several hives were even formed in the jungle so this is prime honeybee catching real estate.   The swarm traps have 1" openings on the side and the box is basically a deep brood box with a floor and top on hinges.  Also a 4" piece of 3/4" lumber with a 2 1/2 " hole above the trap is for hanging on a tree branch.

I gathered some old comb from old hives on the property as well as a couple pieces of discarded hive that I was given at the Tampa Bay Beekeepers apiary on Saturday.  Putting pieces of comb inside the hive as well as a cotton ball with lemon grass essence and a little beeswax will attract scout bees that are sent out before a swarm forms.  Might even add a little queen pheromone to the mix as well.

The only thing still needed are some frames and foundation to go into the traps.  Still trying to decide which frames to use.