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The bee escape works on the simple principle that the bees can exit honey supers easily, but the maze on the device makes it very hard for them to find their way back in.

The bee escape works on the simple principle that the bees can exit honey supers easily, but the maze on the device makes it very hard for them to find their way back in.
© University of Manitoba

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This plastic frame of honeycomb cells has been well filled. Hive boxes filled with honey frames on their way to the honey house for extraction. Each box can weigh over 27 kg. The bee escape works on the simple principle that the bees can exit honey supers easily, but the maze on the device makes it very hard for them to find their way back in. A mechanical lift powered by hydraulics helps these beekeepers handle heavy hive boxes full of honey.

Removing the Supers

Once the worker bees have filled the supers with capped honey, it's time for the beekeeper to harvest the honey crop. The bees need about 35 kg of honey as a winter food supply, but the rest can be taken out. The beekeeper removes all the bees from the honey-filled frames before transferring the frames to the “honey house” for extraction. Bees are not welcome in the honey house!

There are several ways to remove bees, for example, with a bee blower, a bee brush, or by installing an escape board. The bee blower resembles a leaf blower, and it blows the bees out of the super without hurting them. The bee brush requires the beekeeper to gently sweep a long-bristled brush along the comb to remove the bees. The escape board works like a one-way maze: the bees can go down to the brood chamber but can't figure out how to get back up to the honey super. The beekeeper leaves the escape board in the hive for a day or two, and then returns to collect the honey supers.

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