Removing Bees From Honey Supers

Reader Contribution by Julia Miller
Published on October 8, 2014
article image

Ask 10 beekeepers the best way to remove bees from the honey super and you’ll get eleven answers. As with anything else, every beekeeper has their preferred method for accomplishing any task. In this post, I’ll be examining how to remove the bees from the super so the honey can be harvested. Whenever a hive is opened, bees are crawling over nearly every frame in each box. This is a good thing indicating that your hive is healthy with a good population of bees. But when you are ready to harvest, hundreds of bees crawling on the capped honey is not useful. There are three distinct methods to remove bees from the supers: chemical, manual and escape.

Chemical Removal

Chemical means of forcing bees out of the super involves the use of a fume board. A fume board is the same shape as a honey super but only 4-5 inches high. A cloth or felt pad is tacked over the board and sprayed with a repellent chemical. Popular brands are Bee Quick or B-Gone. Within minutes, the bees flee the super and it can be removed from the hive. The chemicals come with serious warnings about the damage it can do on human skin, as well as respiratory risks. For large operations that need to remove a lot of supers quickly, this is likely the most efficient method. For a small hobby operation with a desire to reduce the use of chemicals in all areas of life, this just doesn’t fit.

Manual Removal

Manually removing bees from the supers requires removing each frame from the super, freeing the bees from the frame and placing each into another box. This requires a lot of handling of each frame and a helper to keep the bees from entering the new box. This process can be completed with a bee brush or an air compressor set to a very low volume. The key is to be gentle with the bees and patient in the process.

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368