How
Does It Work?
Fischer's Bee-Quick is a
way to herd your bees away from honey to be harvested.
It is used with a fume board or a breeze board.
When exposed to air, the
non-toxic liquid turns to a non-toxic vapor that smells good to you, but
irritates bees.
Bees move away from the
fumes, and out of the topmost super directly under the fume board.
At higher temperatures, more vapor is produced, but Bee-Quick works even on cloudy days, and on days you might think "too cool" to harvest honey. (Even after a night in your freezer, Bee-Quick still "smells nice". If you can smell the vapors coming out of the bottle, the bees will take notice and evacuate supers.)
Don't use too much!
Spray Bee-Quick in a zig-zag pattern, across the full width of the fume
pad, including the spaces between the outer frames and the hive body, but
don't overdo it. If you use too much, bees will start coming out
of the hive entrance, just like beekeepers fleeing a gift shop that reeks
with the scent of bayberry candles! The exact amount required will
vary with temperature, the amount of sunshine on the fume board, and factors
that makes bees reluctant to leave the super, such as uncapped honey or
brood. In general, use less on hotter and/or sunnier days.