Moving 3 miles+ and back - how long?

[Sutty]

I'm going to take a nuc to my garden for a while for someone to 1. Boost its numbers with some emerging brood ± super bees from my other hives, and then 2. move it back to around 30m from the original site rather than move in short hops.
I've always understood 3 weeks is enough, any experience welcome.

 

[Sean]

Bump (from the guy whose bees Sutty is rescuing!!)

 

[Curly green finger's]

I'm going to take a nuc to my garden for a while for someone to 1. Boost its numbers with some emerging brood ± super bees from my other hives, and then 2. move it back to around 30m from the original site rather than move in short hops.
I've always understood 3 weeks is enough, any experience welcome.

Three miles is a distance really it’s a bit of a stupid rule, how far is the move ?

 

[Sutty]

Move is plenty of distance, over 10 miles as the crow/bee flies i suspect.
The question is how long they need to be in the new location before returning to near the old location.
Any experience - please advise, I seem to remember 3 weeks is good.

 

[Sutty]

To clarify, it's a very small colony from a trap-out with a new queen who's just started laying. I've put it in place of a strong nuc (still a flow on here) to gain its foragers, and can add some stores and emerging brood to strengthen it, and maybe shake in some super bees before moving back. Trying to have a decent chance of getting through winter.

 

[RJC]

To clarify, it's a very small colony from a trap-out with a new queen who's just started laying. I've put it in place of a strong nuc (still a flow on here) to gain its foragers, and can add some stores and emerging brood to strengthen it, and maybe shake in some super bees before moving back. Trying to have a decent chance of getting through winter.

Tbh I regard it as a guide rather than a rule; my bees are in a busy landscape - trees, hedges houses etc so no open clear sight lines. For me moving them 1-2 miles causes no problems, and a week is plenty long enough. It is only the fliers which needs to re-orientate, not those emerging.

 

[Curly green finger's]

To clarify, it's a very small colony from a trap-out with a new queen who's just started laying. I've put it in place of a strong nuc (still a flow on here) to gain its foragers, and can add some stores and emerging brood to strengthen it, and maybe shake in some super bees before moving back. Trying to have a decent chance of getting through winter.

In that case I would do it the other way around leave them on site collect your brood frames and nurse bees plus super bees in a nuc and either if you want to be sure unite them or just add frames of brood plus nurse bees and shake the rest infront of the nuc if you follow?
I say do it that way because they have gained foraging bees and why move them if you could bring the brood and bees to them?

 

[Sutty]

In that case I would do it the other way around leave them on site collect your brood frames and nurse bees plus super bees in a nuc and either if you want to be sure unite them or just add frames of brood plus nurse bees and shake the rest infront of the nuc if you follow?
I say do it that way because they have gained foraging bees and why move them if you could bring the brood and bees to them?

Because the move back will take them around 30m away from the original location, and moving in small hops would be difficult (from a height)