Are there any advantages to using Bee cards in card magic as opposed to Bikes? I have always used Bikes but I note that Daryl on Volume 1 of Encyclopedia of Card Sleights says Bee cards are good for sleight of hand. Yet he doesen't explain why. Any opinions.

The only difference that I have found is that it is less noticeable when you do DL with bicycles because of the border. Other then that I havent found that much difference. I prefer bikes though. Hope this helps

Bikes for magic, bees for gambling! try reversing cards in a bee back deck and see what happens. the lack of a border causes any reversed card to stand out like a sore thumb. If you think one reversed card looks bad, you should try doing triumph with a bee back

Halcon

People often like to point out that Bees help camoflauge false deals more than bikes.
Posted: Dec 22, 2005 12:55pm

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Sorry - by people, I mean magicians. Or possibly crooked gamblers.

I work for a casino party company that uses only cancelled Bees, and while I like them for gambling, I prefer the bikes for sleights. Both will work for DLs, but in addition to the border issue, I like the feel of the bicycles better for this and most other sleights.

Some of the cancelled Bees are thinner than others. We have noticed this between the batches they buy for dealing. I don't know what gives there...

It might be my imagination, but Bees feel a little thicker/stiffer than the bikes.. I can do better spinners with Bees, and wonder if that is because they may actually BE a little thicker and that added thickness creates a little more resistance when bending the card to make it fly, thus giving it a little more power when flying...
MXRay

Try both. Look at yourself in the mirror, practice every sleight you know. Then decide on what you like better...

THe world poker tour bees are really GREAT quality. try them. I've been using them instead of bicycles lately. Tally ho is pretty good too.
Kem last long because it's plastic.(I wouldn't say kem is that good for sleight of hand though cause I never really tried kem with sleight of hand)

Bees faro better than Bikes, and they are great for false dealing and montes. Bikes are good all around cards and (as previously mentioned) are much better for effects that require cards to be reversed. Both Bikes and Bees have the advantage of familiarity over other card brands, although these days I find myself using the new Walgrees Stud cards most of the time. The Studs faro well (not as well as the old Studs, but better than Bikes) and they take work better than the old Studs. The old Suds were better for manipulation effects though. Tally-Hos are a great all-around card.

Jim

Is it just me or are bee's harder to find? Where do you all get them?

You should be able to find them fairly easily. They have them at the grocery store here. But I've gotten them at Wal-Mart,K-Mart and gaming supply stores.

I don't think they are as easy to find as the Bikes, but there aren't too hard either.

I am not sure if it is okay to post a direct link to a retailer's page selling something, so I will PM you with a couple of places.

MXRay.

In Canada, they're pretty easy to find at Zeller's. Most corner stores carry Bicycles, but not Bees, so they're more common. And the only place to really find Tally Ho's is at the magic shop. Dufferin games (or whatever they're called now) has been getting all sorts of cards up here lately - Palmettos, Kem, etc, no doubt due to the Texas hold 'em craze.

I only use Bee for 3 Card Monte. The borders are important to me with a Bicycle deck for the same reason Halcon mentioned above. Another reason the borders are important because of the Split Fan Card Production. The last reason the Bicycle cards are more important to me is because most other card packets plus Brainwave matches. It will look unawkard as if you were doing different tricks with the same type of cards.

I use both Bikes and Bees. The Bikes are for my close-up card magic and the Bees I use for my card manipulation.

Bees for 3 card monte... much more effective with the borderless card.

I never use bees. I used to only use bees when I played poker but now I am just sticking to bikes

I like Bees the look and quality, (No odd borders, that I have noticed so much with bikes)They say Casino quality on them? They are used in some casino's I think. They hide a lot of stuff; dealing, shorts etc.

I prefer bikes personally, as the border can be useful. Bees are good for monte effects, though, as people generally have said on the forum.

I have that Johnny Paul video. Looks like he was using cards without borders. Bees I think. I wonder if Johnny avoided tricks with cards reversed in the deck? I wonder why he used borderless cards for his card work?

Bee's are generally a better quality card stock and finish than Bicycles.

The lack of a white border on Bee cards limits their usefulness in card magic, but World Poker Tour cards are bordered Bee cards. So other than the cost WPT bordered cards (they also have white and black all over backs) are a great card for magic and gambling demos.