How long will homeless bees stay around

[slangers]

I have packed up my beekeeping and sold all of my kit which was collected yesterday. I have around 200 very angry and confused bees hanging around the empty apiary site. Any thoughts on how long it will take them to disperse?

 

[Uncle Betty]

I have packed up my beekeeping and sold all of my kit which was collected yesterday. I have around 200 very angry and confused bees hanging around the empty apiary site. Any thoughts on how long it will take them to disperse?

They won't survive for long, I wouldn't have thought.

 

[Hachi]

Until they die, be eaten or bribe their way into a new hive with goodies. 4 days is roughly the norm weather depending.

 

[mintmoth]

This may sound harsh, but they are going to die anyway. If you have a can of fly spray, use it.

 

[Anduril]

If you have a box of some sort, place it where you had one of your hives. I'm not guaranteeing it, but they may use it to seek refuge and die inside. One thing that happens with stragglers from swarms after you move the bait hive.

 

[pargyle]

If you have a box of some sort, place it where you had one of your hives. I'm not guaranteeing it, but they may use it to seek refuge and die inside. One thing that happens with stragglers from swarms after you move the bait hive.

Not if you move it after dark when they have all gone in ...

Slangers .. it's too late for you now but for others reading this thread ... if you are selling or moving a hive then seal it up the night before and move them early, early morning or move them the previous night after they have been sealed in. Homeless stragglers are a real nuisance and can be absoluted hooligans as they have no home and no purpose if there are no other hives around to beg their way into.

 

[Anduril]

Not if you move it after dark when they have all gone in.

I have closed up after dark and still get stragglers. My suggestion is to stop the 200 bees annoying Slangers and his neighbours. The bees go inside and get lethargic.

 

[pargyle]

I have closed up after dark and still get stragglers. My suggestion is to stop the 200 bees annoying Slangers and his neighbours. The bees go inside and get lethargic.

Yep .. probably the best option in the circumstances .. I've never had 200 bees left after a swarm collection or moving a hive after dark though .. perhaps a dozen if it's a well lit area and a warm evening. 200 is a nuisance.

 

[slangers]

Yes, that's what I did- lots of struggling with gaffer tape in the darkness. It's when I did this that I discovered that one of my hives had a gap in the floor that the bees poured out of in response to having the entrance sealed up. It was this gang of hooligans that have been hanging around ever since. They've now been dealt with.