Your discussions on tipping and bee blowers is interesting. After trying
fume boards, bee go etc,  we have for the last 12 years used  Hitachi
portable blowers to remove bees from honey box's. Its Hitachi  code is PB-20.
It draws 335 watts  supplied by a small 240 volt petrol generator. We cover
the intake with a wire mesh so the bees are not sucked in to the turbo that
spins at 13000 rpm. Its weight is 2 kg and is simple to use.
 
Honey box's are put on a 3 legged stand in front of each hive and prior to
blowing a broad check for AFB is done. If no disease the bees are blown in
front of the hive, in which the queen, if she is in the honey box, ends up
on the ground and runs into the hive with the bees.
 
If our crop is light we have some broad in our honey boxes ( queen excluders
not used) and the blower can work in all conditions. The blowers get dropped
in cow dung and are a real tool that can hack the pace.
 
We have blown from the top and the bottom of the super and now only blow
from the top. We find that with 8 frame honey box's, that it works well for us.
 
Each blower has a life to blow 200 ton  + of honey  and its main advantage
is that it works every day with no smell!!
 
Regards
Bryan
Bryan Clements
Waikato Honey Products Ltd
8 Short Street
New Zealand
Fax 64 7 8718885
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