Bee Sweeper & Collector

01 · FRAME IN, FRAME OUT CLEAN

The brushes start as it goes in

It takes any type of frame. You feed it in with the bees on it, the brushes start automatically and the frame comes out cleared on the other side. The bees drop into the bottom collector, which pulls out whole.

Against a hand brush it does not just gain speed: it gains that the bees end up gathered in one place instead of flying around whoever is working.

02 · THE HOUSE PACKAGE IS 1.2 KG

The reference for working out how much to take

The collector is emptied into the package box, and the format this shop works in is 1.2 kg of bees — that is the weight of both the Iberian and the Buckfast packages in the catalogue.

That is the number the day is planned around: how many frames it takes to fill a package depends on the strength of the colony, but the destination is 1.2 kg per box.

03 · THE LEGS COME OFF

Built to go to the apiary

The legs are detachable so the unit fits in the car. Assembled it stands 835 mm tall by 620 long and 390 wide, and it runs on a 12 V rechargeable battery, so it does not depend on mains power.

The bristles clean with a damp towel. That is the whole maintenance.

04 · BRUSH, SHAKER OR BLOWER

Three ways to get bees off a frame

All three live in the catalogue. The brush — this one — sweeps and collects; the shaker jars the frame and the bees fall where they fall; the blower drives them off with air and is the fastest for emptying supers.

For making packages the difference decides it: only the brush with a collector leaves the bees gathered and weighable. The other two are for emptying, not for collecting.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

If the aim is to make packages, budget for the package box and the filling funnel as well; they go separately.