>>I just shake the frames. Snap Snap, they are free of bees. Takes less time 
>>than using Bee Go...

I thought you were using top bar hives, Scot?  Do you use conventional 
supers on them? If top bar frames, then can they withstand shaking?

> There is no way removing each frame and removing bees from each frame is 
> *faster* (let alone takes less time) than using a fume board. We use as 
> many as 10 fume boards at a time.

IMO, It depends on your style of beekeeping, and your crop, Bob.

For small operators, with clean equipment and no excluders, manual removal 
can be amazingly fast, and only the frames that need to go home go home.

> We leave the fume board on top the removed super until the super is placed 
> on the special honey house pallet( keep bees from reentering bee free 
> super) Then the fume board is removed and a special bee proof lid is 
> placed on the bee free super.

I've heard that these two things are not recommended, if the frames are at 
all uncapped, since they trap the repellant in the box and result in much 
higher absorption.

> Each super is handled ONE TIME by hand. Off the hive and on the special 
> pallet ...frames are ONLY removed from the  box when they go  in the 
> uncapping machine.

However, oftentimes, in my experience, the supers contain many frames that 
should not have gone the honeyhouse, sometimes as much as 2/3rs of them, on 
average.  This is especially true in poor crop years, when pulling supers 
before moving, and at the end of the season or where excluders are not used. 
In these cases, an arguement can be made for hand-sorting in the bee yard, 
especially where an experienced beekeeper is doing the work, not 
half-trained labourers.

> Does  Scot and Dee's  method use less labor?

In some cases, I think so, and results in less trucking, which in Dee's case 
is important since she is way up in the desert across arroyos and through 
locked gates.  It is also more targetted and gets some beekeeping done at 
the same time.

> The fume board as no equal on speed of removing supers!

That is true, but it is a shotgun approach.  Abandonment is also quick. 
Each technique has its place.

> Blowing bees (which we do when temps are too low for a fume board to work) 
> is slower than a fume board and more work.

That's is for sure, and much more violent in many cases.  In some yard 
layouts and conditions, blowing results in bees on the ground underfoot and 
clinging to everything.  Chutes help, but don't completely solve the 
problems.

One tip, though: I have used the blower to blow bees down in the boxes while 
still on the hive, just like a fume board.  This can't always work, and 
sometimes could be damaging, especially with a strong blower right above the 
brood chamber. 

******************************************************
* Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at:          *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm  *
******************************************************