yes, just do it - no need for closing up for days on end or magic twigs. The three mile rule is just a rough guyide not some set in stone mathematical formula. Early on in the year, they won't be venturing very far to forage, and as you are slapping them in the middle of OSR, they won't be going much further than that, so unless they are already foraging on the OSR from two miles away, they are not likely to overlap forage areas.
I wonder if it makes a different oif you move them away from the direction they've been flying - ie if they are mostly foraging, and are familiar with, west, can you get away with moving them a shorter distance East?
I don't think the direction of where they are going when they oriantate they circle the hole area, it might be a bit of a last chance saloon doing it shorter distances now with the weather 3 inches of snow here - 4 tonight.
You can often move bees a short distance but key is how protected/sheltered were they from place to place. i.e. If it has nice high trees all around i find you can move them very short distances, on the other hand i am sure in Norfolk it is a nightmare.
yes, in a nutcase. The bees only orientate to the immediate vicinity of the hive (hence the 'three feet' bit of the 'rule') If they have exclusively foraged in one direction, then moving them in the opposite direction more than three feet will have the same effect. Of course all this depends on the collective memory of the whole hive.
40 metres? Hmm. I would definitely be putting a nuc box out to catch all the flyers, unless you are leaving that entrance closed for 3 days or something? .....
So I moved them in the snow and today its 8+ and not much activity a few bees flying and none as yet have gone back to the old site..
