Keeping bees in for a day

[mike_bike_kite]

I need to keep my bees within the hive for a day due to a nearby event. I have a national hive with one brood box and one super. The weather will be partly cloudy with a high of 16 deg C. My intention is to shut them in on Sat evening and open the hive again on Sun evening.

Can anyone recommend the best way of locking them in? Please keep in mind I won't have time to buy additional equipment for this. Many thanks.

Mike

 

[JazzJPH]

The guys who took the basic course last weekend use a sponge strip and stuff it in the entrance.

 

[mjt68]

+1 for sponge, parcel tape or similar on top to keep it in place if you're worried, open floor.

 

[Eyeman]

That grey pipe insultation cut to size is flexible enough and readily available. Piece of Duct tape adds extra security.

 

[Murox]

Sponge and duct tape/parcel tape will work. Shade the hive, keep it cool.

 

[Millet]

When I move colonies I pin a piece of varroa mesh over the entrance and remove the inspection tray..

 

[mike_bike_kite]

Thanks for the very rapid responses! I'll use the sponge stuff with tape on the entrance. I'll admit I was a little worried by how they'd keep themselves cool but perhaps they'll be OK. I'll see if I can shade the hive but that might not be easy, perhaps I can persuade my son to stand there all day with an umbrella

Mike

PS On a slightly separate note - if I wanted to move the hive to a slightly more secluded spot in someone's garden but the garden is only 1/2 a mile away. Could I do roughly the same thing but keep them in for (I'd heard) 3 days. Then they'd treat the site as home?

 

[Millet]

Thanks for the very rapid responses! I'll use the sponge stuff with tape on the entrance. I'll admit I was a little worried by how they'd keep themselves cool but perhaps they'll be OK. I'll see if I can shade the hive but that might not be easy, perhaps I can persuade my son to stand there all day with an umbrella

Mike

PS On a slightly separate note - if I wanted to move the hive to a slightly more secluded spot in someone's garden but the garden is only 1/2 a mile away. Could I do roughly the same thing but keep them in for (I'd heard) 3 days. Then they'd treat the site as home?

Stick a white wet sheet over the top of the hive but leave a gap at the bottom for air flow..keep wetting it as and when needed that is what i do when moving them in the car on warm days to keep them cool..

 

[Hivemaker.]

They should be okay shut in with the mesh floor open, but if they are very strong a screen on top would also be better, bees can overheat very quickly when shut in and suffer complete melt down.

 

[masterBK]

The mesh floor /screen board is not just so that they can keep the temperature under control but also allows them to breath. They need ventilation to get their oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide as well as keep the humidity under control. You don't want your bees to suffocate.

 

[Ian123]

Mesh floor if you have 1, add a new super and screen the top at the very least mesh the crown board holes. Bit of water during the day would not hurt but thats up to you

 

[mike_bike_kite]

So I put the foam in the entrance and seal it with tape. Remove the inspection tray under the mesh floor to allow the bees to breath and keep cool, judgement call call on shading or damp sheet on top to keep call. Do this on Sat evening around 8pm. The event is on Sunday but I've been told it might go on for a while so may need to open on Mon morning around 8am.

 

[eltalia]

The mesh floor /screen board is not just so that they can keep the temperature under control but also allows them to breath.
They need ventilation to get their oxygen and get rid of carbon dioxide as well as keep the humidity under control.
You don't want your bees to suffocate.

Screened bottomboards not being so popular here in Aussie your CO2 poisoning is very
relative. Boxes are locked down using screen or entrance closures owning 3mm
penetrations.
There is a not so well known (Internet) method for moving bees across yards using the
azimith, happy to lay it out for those so interested.

https://www.photopills.com/articles/understanding-azimuth-and-elevation

Bill