Collecting swarms of bees is an exciting and self-satisfying procedure when all goes well. Unfortunately not all swarms are located on the end of a branch four feet from the ground as shown in many swarm pictures. Sometimes the bees are clustered around several small tree limbs high off the ground. When the bees cannot be shaken from the tree, a bee vac is the way to go. I have read many articles in this publication about bee vacuums and thought I should describe the one I built. Yes, I have the beeshipping container vac as many articles describe, light weight and convenient - until you put the bees into a hive. That is another 15 to 20 minutes of work. I wanted to vacuum the bees directly into the hive, return the hive to the beeyard and then leave.
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