Moving a Hive in winter?

[Robbo8916]

Hey everyone,

I have recently met a lady who had bought bees and hives for her ex. She wanted rid of the bees and all the equipment. I made her an offer and she accepted.

Now I have a dilemma. She wants the bees out of her garden. They are on double brood with two supers on (from what she said it was two colonies now combined into one). I have spoken to one of my new out apiaries (farm orchard) and they are happy to have the bees whenever but the lady wants rid of them before Xmas.

When I went to have a look they were flying strongly yesterday, as were my own bees at home which was surprising but also disheartening to see as they will be using up stores they cannot replace.

Anyway, my dilemma is, how do I go about moving the entire unit from her garden to the farm? Distance shouldn't be an issue as it is just shy of 3 miles. It is the sheer size and weight of the height along with disturbance to the bees that concerns me.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance

 

[B+.]

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

It was -5C here this mornig. I wouldn't be in any great hurry to move bees until they have broken cluster and are able to fly freely again (i.e. springtime). I suggest that you try to talk her ito leaving them where they are until late Feb/early March.
You don't want to be breaking a big hive like that down at this time of year as they should be safely clustered until the spring now.
If she won't play ball, strap the whole lot together and get someone to help you lift it. Make sure they are sealed in before you move it, but, be prepared to lose a portion of the population.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Have a good look at the hive to see what the setup is - the most important thing being to see if there is a queen excluder in place, if so, wait until a day like the one you had yesterday, get the supers off and remove QX and, as the supers are off I would put a clearer board in place, prepare the hive for moving shut them up that evening and move them. If bees are active you don't have to get quite so excited about breaking up the cluster - it's only a problem if there is a particularly cold few days.

 

[Plenty of honey]

To add from B+, they will be a lot lighter by then too!! sure she wont mind them until march, they might not fly much anyway!! two person for sure!! good luck!!

 

[Robbo8916]

Have a good look at the hive to see what the setup is - the most important thing being to see if there is a queen excluder in place, if so, wait until a day like the one you had yesterday, get the supers off and remove QX and, as the supers are off I would put a clearer board in place, prepare the hive for moving shut them up that evening and move them. If bees are active you don't have to get quite so excited about breaking up the cluster - it's only a problem if there is a particularly cold few days.

Thanks. I don't know if you can see from the attached picture but there is what apears to be a framed queen excluder on top of the second brood box. I did think about getting a clearer board on therefore enabling me to remove the supers and make the whole thing a lot easier to move. I gather I would then give them the supers back? It looks (and feels) like a large colony.

From what she has been saying I don't think that leaving them where they are is feasible. Neighbours complaining etc....

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Hey everyone,

I have recently met a lady who had bought bees and hives for her ex. She wanted rid of the bees and all the equipment. I made her an offer and she accepted.

Now I have a dilemma. She wants the bees out of her garden. They are on double brood with two supers on (from what she said it was two colonies now combined into one). I have spoken to one of my new out apiaries (farm orchard) and they are happy to have the bees whenever but the lady wants rid of them before Xmas.

When I went to have a look they were flying strongly yesterday, as were my own bees at home which was surprising but also disheartening to see as they will be using up stores they cannot replace.

Anyway, my dilemma is, how do I go about moving the entire unit from her garden to the farm? Distance shouldn't be an issue as it is just shy of 3 miles. It is the sheer size and weight of the height along with disturbance to the bees that concerns me.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance

The hive is going to be heavy (hopefully). However if you can recruit strong help I would attend the previous evening and seal the entrance In the morning securely strap the hive together (really, really securely) then with your assistant lift the hive en bloc into your transport and relocate to the new site which I hope is more than the magical three miles away. Best if your assistant is also a beek with a suit
Improvise, adapt and overcome!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Thanks. I don't know if you can see from the attached picture but there is what apears to be a framed queen excluder on top of the second brood box. I did think about getting a clearer board on therefore enabling me to remove the supers and make the whole thing a lot easier to move. I gather I would then give them the supers back? It looks (and feels) like a large colony.

From what she has been saying I don't think that leaving them where they are is feasible. Neighbours complaining etc....

Looks like there's a QX in place - that needs to come out regardless of what the plan is going to be.
You need a good day weather wise but regardless of that you can be sure the bees will be back in well before the day is out as it will get colder long before the sun goes down.
I've thought a bit more about this - go in when they are active, take off the supers, put a crown board on the brood boxes, shake out all the bees (if there are any) that are in the supers and take them away. As soon as the bees stop flying, seal the whole lot up, strap them securely and move them. replace the supers (if they have stores in) the following day.

 

[Robbo8916]

Looks like there's a QX in place - that needs to come out regardless of what the plan is going to be.
You need a good day weather wise but regardless of that you can be sure the bees will be back in well before the day is out as it will get colder long before the sun goes down.
I've thought a bit more about this - go in when they are active, take off the supers, put a crown board on the brood boxes, shake out all the bees (if there are any) that are in the supers and take them away. As soon as the bees stop flying, seal the whole lot up, strap them securely and move them. replace the supers (if they have stores in) the following day.

Do you think that would be more effective than using a clearer board?

 

[user 6228]

its already on a pallet
use a pallet truck to get it to the road, and borrow trailer or a tail-lift truck to get to its new site.

 

[Robbo8916]

its already on a pallet
use a pallet truck to get it to the road, and borrow trailer or a tail-lift truck to get to its new site.

Sadly it is at the bottom of a stepped garden so that isn't an option. It is going to have to be carried.

 

[Millet]

Can you not borrow a sack barrow it will make life a hell of a lot easier.

 

[thenovice]

Do you think that would be more effective than using a clearer board?

it might be me not judging this correctly (i never left a QE in over winter ) but if there was a queen excluder in place, your bees will either be with the queen in the brood boxes and have munched away the stores there or they will already be up in the supers and your queen will be dead. So I would just take the QE out and depending on the weight of the BB let them move up into the supers or take the top one or both off if there are no bees in it.

 

[pargyle]

it might be me not judging this correctly (i never left a QE in over winter ) but if there was a queen excluder in place, your bees will either be with the queen in the brood boxes and have munched away the stores there or they will already be up in the supers and your queen will be dead. So I would just take the QE out and depending on the weight of the BB let them move up into the supers or take the top one or both off if there are no bees in it.

Regardless of the queen situation/Queen excluder - it's still a stack of boxes that have to be relocated .. so - JBM's advice above (or a variation thereon) is the best bet. If you don't have one it would be worth hiring a sack truck to move them and a second pair of hands will be invaluable ...

Hope they are nice bees and worth the effort !!

 

[Robbo8916]

it might be me not judging this correctly (i never left a QE in over winter ) but if there was a queen excluder in place, your bees will either be with the queen in the brood boxes and have munched away the stores there or they will already be up in the supers and your queen will be dead. So I would just take the QE out and depending on the weight of the BB let them move up into the supers or take the top one or both off if there are no bees in it.

She has only had the setup for a month as she bought it just before her and her ex split up so I doubt they will have all moved up to the supers just yet. I knew it was a risk but was a steal, ideally I need to look inside to be sure of what is happening but doubt we will get many more days like yesterday.

Regardless of the queen situation/Queen excluder - it's still a stack of boxes that have to be relocated .. so - JBM's advice above (or a variation thereon) is the best bet. If you don't have one it would be worth hiring a sack truck to move them and a second pair of hands will be invaluable ...

Hope they are nice bees and worth the effort !!

So do I!

They were flying strongly yesterday and the lady said they had been requeened not long before she got them as they were initially two colonies combined into one, hence the double brood.

It may have been a risk too far but will see how we do. Think I have an idea of what I am going to do!

 

[Poly Hive]

This is probably wrong but the boxes look as if a leak is going to be on the cards so have some spare foam rubber to hand to plug them up.

PH

 

[Swarm]

He said it's a stepped garden so trolleys are not going to be of much use. I don't envy you Rob, my garden is sloping and stepped and I moved 4 hives. I was a bit younger and stronger then though and I still had my son to help me.
Before strapping them, gaffer tape around the joins for extra security and then take it in stages. How far do you have to go? Mine was about 60 yards from stand to truck, so very tiring.

 

[Robbo8916]

He said it's a stepped garden so trolleys are not going to be of much use. I don't envy you Rob, my garden is sloping and stepped and I moved 4 hives. I was a bit younger and stronger then though and I still had my son to help me.
Before strapping them, gaffer tape around the joins for extra security and then take it in stages. How far do you have to go? Mine was about 60 yards from stand to truck, so very tiring.

Oh Lord I am not sure quite how far it is but from the end of a large garden around the side of the house to the driveway. Probably a similar distance. Stepped gardens are very common here, my other two are at the top of one! Easy enough getting the first one in, the second was a split. Wouldn't want to move them unless I really had to!

 

[pargyle]

He said it's a stepped garden so trolleys are not going to be of much use. I don't envy you Rob, my garden is sloping and stepped and I moved 4 hives. I was a bit younger and stronger then though and I still had my son to help me.
Before strapping them, gaffer tape around the joins for extra security and then take it in stages. How far do you have to go? Mine was about 60 yards from stand to truck, so very tiring.

You can hire those sack trucks with three sets of wheels that allow you to pull them up the steps ..

http://www.welco.co.uk/twin-footpla...Sack Trucks)&gclid=CNr1nfzCztACFRThGwodeGIOBQ

 

[Millet]

You can hire those sack trucks with three sets of wheels that allow you to pull them up the steps ..

http://www.welco.co.uk/twin-footpla...Sack Trucks)&gclid=CNr1nfzCztACFRThGwodeGIOBQ

A normal sack barrow will go up and down steps especially with too people, that is what i would be doing if it was me.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Do you think that would be more effective than using a clearer board?

quicker - no faffing around going back in a few hours to take them off - if it's a warmish time of day with bees flying, they'll just make their way back into the hive if you shake them out near the entrance. I thinks it's the best and quickest method to sort out the mess.