# Honey Harvest Pros and Cons



## AverageJo (Sep 24, 2010)

I've been debating on the various methods of honey harvesting and would like to know your thoughts. The methods I'm aware of are: 
1) Smoke the hive, Shake the frame and brush the remaining bees off.
2) Use a bee escape (various designs)
3) Blow the bees off using a blower of some sort.
4) Use a fume board.

Please state which you use and why. If you use a bee escape, please tell which design works best for you. If you use a blower, what blower do you use? If you use a fume board, which repellant do you use and why?

Just trying to do something smarter this year. Last year I used a smoker and then the shake and brush method. Ended up getting a lot of stings and it was difficult to get all the bees off. Slow method. I've debated on using an escape but that means two visits to the bee yard and hefting the supers numerous times, which is hard on my back. Fume boards I've heard can leave a taint to your honey and ruin your clothes with stink you can't get out. Is there an all-natural option?

Thanks in advance!


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## Lazy J (Jan 2, 2008)

When I had bees I used a fume board along with a blower. At that time we used a Toro stand alone blower.


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## indypartridge (Oct 26, 2004)

AverageJo said:


> Fume boards I've heard can leave a taint to your honey and ruin your clothes with stink you can't get out.


Try Fischer's Bee Quick. No foul smell.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

WE have a bee blower, it has sat for about 4 years now. Found I didn't like the short hose and moving the blower which isn't a lite weight thing to each hive, gasoline smell in the truck and couldn't use it once for long when I forgot to fill the tank and it ran out since I didn't carry extra gas for it.

I smoke the bees, pull each frame, shake it off in front of the hive brush it and hand it to Kare. Kare carries it to the truck lifts the lid I made brushes off any remaining bees, inserts the frame in the super replaces the lid. 

With the cost of fuel two trips lifting several honey supers to install bee excapes isn't a option. 
Have never tried and fume board, been with a friend once and that is some evil smelling crap.

 Al


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## johng (Feb 14, 2009)

Fume board is the only way to go if you are harvesting many supers. A blower would probably be the next best way. If you have a couple fume boards you can work pretty fast once you get going. Brushing one frame at a time is ok for a few supers but, is way too much work for more than a couple supers. Thats been my exp.


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## Dunkel68 (Jul 5, 2012)

Beequick here. Over the past week of 100+ it took about 3-5 minutes per super. I made 2 boards and by the time I would put the second on the first was ready. No smell on the honey and no mad bees. If I had only a couple I might brush, but I would be picking up some go juice next time it was handy.


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## AverageJo (Sep 24, 2010)

Thanks everybody!! Hopefully I'm not the only one this has helped.


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## Queen Bee (Apr 7, 2004)

I have used Fisher's Bee Quick for 12 yrs and will always use it . It works great for my bees. I have 4 fume boards and spray one, place it on the top of the first hive, let it sit 5 min or so and there VERY few bees in the super. Dh lifts each frame, brushes off any bees left and places it into a super.that sits in a flat top.. We alternate the fume boards, as the last super is being removed from the hive being robbed, we place the fume board on the next hive to be worked...


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