For the last umpteen years I've used triangular escape boards to get the bees out of the supers and shied away from using noxious smelling products.  Before that I used a brush, which was not fun at all.  For the most part the boards work fine, but you have to wait at least a day after installing to remove them, and you have to break down a stack of heavy supers, install, and then put the supers back, only to pull them again a day or two later - double work on an aging back.  And, every once in a while some bees clog up the triangle and die, so the rest can't get out.  Earlier this year I left them on for a week because the weather and my travel schedule were uncooperative, and one of the hives waxed the screen on one board so bad that it pulled free, when I finally was able to remove the boards.  Not the best solution.

After following the exchange a little while ago about the different bee-moving products, I decided to try something different.  So, bought a couple of fume boards and some Honey Robber from MannLake.  Just used them yesterday to pull some final supers (not for extraction, I stack them nearby and use in the event a hive needs emergency late winter feeding).  Holy cow!  Just a small squirt on the felt, apply, wait a couple of minutes, and, voila, no bees.  Really fast and easy, less than five minutes per hive.  The Honey Robber actually doesn't smell bad at all when you first apply it, because they add a covering scent.  But that is quickly replaced by the familiar butyric smell (took me back to my fermentation plant days).  Another advantage is that no bees came up to greet me, when I pulled the supers.  Yet, a couple of minutes later they were back to normal.  Left out in the sun for a few hours afterward, the fume boards lost most of the stink by evening, when I put them back in the barn.

Sharing this, in case there are any hobbyists out there, who have avoided using one of the bee-moving compounds.  Can't speak for all of them, but the one I used made the process fast, easy and painless.  With only two boards I was able to remove supers from several hives in about 15 minutes.  Hope this helps someone.

Bill
Claremont, NH

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