Someone asked:
>I'm looking for advice in successfully removing and relocating a colony
>that is occupying space in the attic of a very old house. The owners called
>me as they where aware of my apiary.

My bee vacuum used in these situations is a small canister vacuum that is
connected to a 5 gallon bucket.  The bucket has the air intake from the
vacuum and a large hose to suck up the bees.  The bucket is padded with foam
on the bottom.  It also has a pressure valve (read standard faucet that can
be set to full open or nearly closed) to dampen the suction from the vacuum.
 I vacuum all the bees in sight and hope that I don't kill the queen.  Then
I cut and remove the comb using a plaster scraper, rubber-band brood comb
into frames and watch and remove the transferred comb as the hive becomes
established.  THe bucket of bees is not dumped into the hive until I get home.

>Is a shop-vac a solution to this extraction?  Can bees survive that sudden
>stop at the end of the shop-vac ride?

The valve dampens the effect of bees being sucked at high speed into a plastic
bucket.

Carol

Carol K. Malcolm
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