Friday, September 2, 2011

Finishing Up the Season

For students who are not wintering over their honeybees, now is the time to shop-vac your bees. As long as your queen has been caged for 21 days, its time to kill off your hive. Fill your shop vac half way and wait until it is cold (i.e. early morning or evening) This keeps the bees from flying around so much and ensures most if not all are in the hive. After the bees are gone, tape off the end of the vacuum hose with ductape to ensure any that haven't drowned will not fly out and leave the vacuum outside. A couple days later, dump the dead bees "organic vermiculite" into your compost or garden site.