A moving experience.......

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MillyBee

New Bee
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
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Location
Merseyside
Hive Type
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Hi, this is my first posting. I would like some advice on moving 2 small hives 50' across my garden to join two other hives elevated on a specially prepared stand. Is this the best time to do this and how would I manage it correctly. Many thanks in advance for your help. :O)
 
Hi, welcome to the forum :)
I would of thought now is better than latter, but i'm no expert so
someone will be alone shortly with what to do.
 
Welcome to the forum MillyBee.

I think that the window of opportunity to do this is either passing or may have passed already. The weather is warming up perceptibly and the days lengthening.

I would say that you could safely move the strongest and if there are any foragers that decide to return home, then they can at least find sanctuary in the weaker of the two hives and bolster numbers ever so slightly in the process.

That would be the safe thing to do which while not fully meeting your requirement would get you half way there.

If you are able to move the last hive later on a few miles away for a week or two and then return them, so much the better.

Don't forget after moving the bees, to put something in the way so that they are aware that they have to reorient before rushing off for a dump or forage, so that they know where their home has moved to.
 
Thank you to you both for your welcome and for your comments Hombre. I think I knew I should have done something sooner, I was just hoping. :O)
 
You could just move them slowly, but this will only work if the ground between the two sites is reasonably flat and doesn't have any, for example, walls in the way.

The traditional idea is to move them 3 feet at a time, but I wouldn't do this every day, as they have good memories. If the hive is moving backwards, i.e. the entrance is facing backwards you can get away with about 5 feet at a time. If you are moving them forwards then no more than 3 feet.

A complication is you are moving two hives which I suspect are currently close together. This being the case it may help to move them a bit apart as they start their slow march and then bring them together nearer the end.

A move say every 3 days, carried out either early morning or as it gets dark, should see them in their new site in about 6 to 8 weeks.

But as already suggested, the simplest would be to take them somewhere else for about a week and then bring them to the new site. If your association has a branch apiary they might be happy to give them a temporary home, especially at this time of the year.

If you want to try a riskier approach, check the weather forecast and if you see a prolonged cold spell coming, say one of 3 days minimum, then move them in one go on the evening before the cold weather starts. After moving them, put something over the entrance, such as a leaning board or the branch of something like a Christmas tree. This will help the bees realise something has changed when they first venture out after the move.

When they do start flying check the old site and if a large number of bees are hanging around then the hives will have to moved quickly back. By large I mean a few hundred. The odd dozen or so could be ignored.
 
Thank you Rooftops, very much appreciated and its nice to know that I haven't left it too late. This is the route I will go down - relief! :O)
 
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