3 feet 3 mile

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

beeboybee

Field Bee
Joined
May 5, 2009
Messages
750
Reaction score
14
Location
QUANTOCKS - SOMERSET
Hive Type
14x12
Number of Hives
6 >12 - 14x12 + Nucs
Hypothetically if i needed to move my bee's from my allotment back to my house which is only 1.7 miles away am i going to run into problems...

the area is a in a very urban environment with lots of gardens and parks.

could i keep them in the hive for a bit or wait for a rainy patch to get around this problem?
:confused:
 
.
The distance should be enough that they do not retunr to the old place.

But you may put in old place some box and oiece of comb there. If some bees return you see how much. I believe that they are not many. Sunny day is better to move than rainy.
 
I think given the time of year the limited foraging flights probably wont be over such a great distance so the 1.7 miles will be ok but do as finmans advice and leave a bb with a piece of comb just in case.
 
Hi BeeBoy

Go ahead and move them they will be fine.


Regards Ian
 
Move them now, don't leave it much later. At this time in the season a) foragers are relatively few and b) foraging distances are relatively low.
 
I moved some of mine last weekend about 2 miles none have returned to the old site.
 
thats good to know... i was thinking ahead really i am getting my first bee's soon and will be keeping them at my allotment site but was thinking at the end of the summer bringing them home and keeping them in the back yard to keep an eye on them and feed etc...:willy_nilly:
 
In that case you may have a bit more of a problem and you will be well advised to leave a BB to collect any bees returning to the old site
 
I too would leave a BB behind with a stores comb. who knows you might pick up a swarm..lol

Seriously I would move them, and with good ventilation, and this is critical, leave them blocked in until morning, then let them out but with a board over the front so as they rush out the "bump" their heads and make them pause and make them re-orientate.

PH
 
I am always the pessimist here. Is this 1.7 miles as the crow flies? Or 'on the road'?.

That is only a little over 3/4 of a mile foraging distance for 'overlap' on old haunts. It may depend on what they find at the new location. If there was a small field of OSR in flower and nothing much else around, you might be in trouble. The rule was meant to be 'fairly sure - and then a bit' I would feel fairly safe at 3km in most instances. Do as Polyhive suggests.

Regards, RAB
 
.
I have a mating yard 2,5 km away my home yeard. I have not seen any returning traffic when I move nucs and hives. Between those 2 points there are cultivated fields and perhaps bees do not forage there often.

But with extra box you see what happens. Bees will not many which return.
 
I have to agree here with Oliver.

When someone says to me it's 3 miles it never crosses my mind it is not

AS THE BEE FLIES

Because it's not by the road map folks.

PH
 
I think it also makes a difference as to what time of year you move them. At the start ofthe season I think it is fairly safe to move just under 2 miles (as the crow flies) as the bees have not been that active, but later in the season I would make sure it was over the 3 mile rule.
 
No i measured with a crow! still not got my bee's just thinking and planning things through:beatdeadhorse5:
 
Hypothetically if i needed to move my bee's from my allotment back to my house which is only 1.7 miles away am i going to run into problems...

the area is a in a very urban environment with lots of gardens and parks.

could i keep them in the hive for a bit or wait for a rainy patch to get around this problem?
:confused:

Keep them shut in for 24 hours with good ventilation and in the shade , most of the flyers will re-orientate to the new site.
 
Keep them shut in for 24 hours with good ventilation and in the shade , most of the flyers will re-orientate to the new site.

WHAT 24h?

I close the hive in the morning and after couple of hours hives are in new locations and transport mesh off. What a riot if you do not let them out at once! Most = all.
 
Beboybee - Maybe we could swap sites for the regulation 6 weeks! My allotment is close to my house as well and I want to move bees from my home to my allotment at the end of the season.
I live in St Helens btw.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top