At 02:26 PM 7/15/96 +0000, you wrote: >At 09:48 AM 7/15/96 -0500, you wrote: > > As of right now, unless I learn of a way to >> make them more effective, I will go back to Bee Escape screens. >> It may have caused another trip to the apiary but in the past >> with them I didn't have to spend the day killing my charges. >> > Hi Mark: > > I'm certainly not as experienced or as knowledgable as many others > on the list; and I'm sure you'll get many other suggestions but > here's my method..for what its worth. > > After experiencing mostly frustration with bee escapes and being > unwilling to mess with fume boards, I happened on an article in > Bee culture magazine last year that described shaking and brushing > as a means of removing bees from supers. > > I bring an empty super with me when I am going to pull off honey > supers. Frist I remove all the supers on a given hive. Then I pull > each super frame, give it a sharp shake (do not knock) over the > hive to dislodge most of the bees, then quickly brush off the > stragglers. The frame then goes into the empty super. I place a > piece of plywood on a hand truck, put the super on the plywood and > cover with a spare outer cover. The process is repeated with each frame > to be extracted. When transporting I strap the plywood, supers and cover > together with my Kevlock straps, maintaining a bee tight package. > > Now for the qualifications. > > * This process is done most efficiently with two people > * I was only working three hives w/3 supers/ea...this method may be > too labor intensive for more than, say, 10 hives. > > Hope this is of some help. > > >Tim Peters, Kirby VT >[log in to unmask] >KirBee Apiary, Bear Bait Honey >I rather be flying! > I tried the brush and shake method a few years ago and just about got carried off in the robbing frenzy that followed. I've since used a fume board and no smoke. I just put it on top of the hive and in about 5 min the bees are out and they don't try to take super away from me while loading. The key to using a fume board is to paint it flat black and use it in hot sunshine. Frank Humphrey [log in to unmask]