3 feet a day - what if it's cold?

[Midget Gem]

Morning All,

I'm moving a hive 3ft a day. What happens if it's very cold and not a flying day? Can I still move it the next day?

 

[Ian123]

If we are entering a period the bees aren’t expected to fly for a few days you could move in 1 go. However remember even in cold weather during the day with sun on the hive they can fly.
I’ve often closed the entrance for a couple of days to help, also remove everything from old site!! Also obstruct entrance when you set in the new position just make it a little awkward for them to fly straight out. You may get a few buzzing around the old location and that’s not unusual.

 

[Erichalfbee]

We are expecting a good few days of cold. I would move them all in one go as soon as the cold spell starts.

 

[Ian123]

In my area the forecast has improved for next week, anything in this country more than a week in advance is guessing

 

[user 20297]

I wanted to thin out an area of my garden apiary, and reduce on double-stands , (it's a big garden). Hive A went to new stand C. Hive B replaced it on stand A. Anoher hive, hive (B#2) remained on double stand B and was pushed slightly towards the middle. The result was a case of musical hives, with strong hive A being a nett loser of bees who went " home" to their original location and found hive B. Hive B's foragers largely went "home" to B#2, which was previously a quiet one. There's been a few disagreements between bees, I think this would all have backfired big-time if we were mid-season, but all largely sorted now.

 

[JamezF]

In my area the forecast has improved for next week, anything in this country more than a week in advance is guessing

To be honest, sometimes I feel like they're still guessing for tomorrow.

James

 

[Ian123]

I wanted to thin out an area of my garden apiary, and reduce on double-stands , (it's a big garden). Hive A went to new stand C. Hive B replaced it on stand A. Anoher hive, hive (B#2) remained on double stand B and was pushed slightly towards the middle. The result was a case of musical hives, with strong hive A being a nett loser of bees who went " home" to their original location and found hive B. Hive B's foragers largely went "home" to B#2, which was previously a quiet one. There's been a few disagreements between bees, I think this would all have backfired big-time if we were mid-season, but all largely sorted now.

Have you just done this now, it’s not just foraging bees you can lose it’s all that have taken a flight. I’d not have bled any off from larger hives as they probably have corresponding areas of brood to maintain and keep warm. It’s not really the time to be fiddling without good reason!

 

[user 20297]

I agree. The purpose was not to fiddle ( or redistribute bees), and I did think of that potential problem. But I miscalculated how soon we would see the onset of cold and my bees' resilience to cold temperatures; so they were out an about sooner than anticipated. I wanted them moved and now it's done. The cold is here now, so the potentail problem could be worse, but is likely to steady off.

 

[Poly Hive]

Just move them and cover the entrance with a board. Job done. Far less stress than fiddling every day.

PH