This is a simple bee escape for removing bees from honey supers prior to extracting honey. This escape is designed to fit into the standard 50 mm (2") opening found in the inner covers of most Langstroth-style bee hives. It essentially operates as a 1-way valve - bees easily move through from the honey super via the large opening into the "tunnel", and out the small opening into the brood chamber. Travel in the reverse direction is more difficult, as the bees must enter via the small opening.

So long as there are no other openings into the honey super, this bee escape should empty honey supers of all bees in 24 to 48 hours.

This escape is designed to print quickly with a minimum amount of material. It's design is based on the traditional "Canadian escape", consisting of a large opening to the honey supers, with a connecting tunnel that leads to a small opening to the brood chamber. Simple, cheap and effective.

To assemble:

1. Print in whatever material you prefer. The amount of material used is minimum, so this is a great project to get rid of small amounts of leftover filament.
2. Glue to lid onto the box portion, such that the square opening on the lid is opposite the large circular opening.

To use:

1. 24 to 48 hours before you want to extract honey, move your inner cover between the honey super(s) you plan on extracting and the brood chamber/unfilled supers. Make sure the inner cover is orientated such that the upper entrance is facing downwards (e.g. not as shown in the sample picture).
2. Place the bee escape into the opening of the inner cover, with the box-like portion orientated downwards and the large circular opening facing upwards. It should fit flush, as per the left-escape in the sample image.
3. Place the honey super(s) to be extracted above the inner cover/bee escape.
4. Place the telescoping cover on top of the honey super(s).
5. If you have any additional entrances in your super(s) (e.g. drilled entrances or large cracks), cover them with painters tape.

24-48 hours later most of the bees should have moved into the brood chamber, leaving the honey super(s) mostly free of bees.

EDIT: I've included an image to show how we this works (image #3 on the slider). The same honey box on the same hive, before (left) and 48 hours after (right) adding this bee escape.