moving hives in winter

[artibaton]

i'm hoping to get my first 3 or 4 hives come early feb and would like
to put them up at work
they have OSR and field beans in the surrounding area

are there any problems associated with moving hives in winter?

where would be the best place to put them?

 

[BKF Admin]

If they are going to work the rape than I would wait until it starts to bud or wait for them to wake up a little after the winter,have you thought anything about pollen patties? that would get them off to a flying start and built up nice for the rape bloom.

Was it autumn sown rape? I would get them right up next to it on the edge of the field.

I am very tempted myself to move a few of my hives onto the rape,they already have a full diary though for next year,they are going onto Organic lavender during June then onto the heather in the New forst for august and back home September.

 

[artibaton]

they are coming with full supers so food (hopefully) wont be an issue

im tempted to put them onto the, autumn sown, rape to draw comb and some honey then onto dorset for the heather in june-ish

lavender is one ive missed

 

[ian]

Hi Arti

For Heather try very end of July to get them on site and the main flowering period would be August.


Pick yourself out a good home site for the main flow close to home, and in your area thats about mid June to mid July.


Regards Ian

 

[artibaton]

thanks for the advice ian

 

[iombeeman]

hello automaton,don`t know about oil seed rape,haven`t got any nearby.
moving hives in winter does cause problems,it causes stress for the bees if they are clustering,i feel it is better to wait till spring,if at all possible.
they have enough to do just getting through winter,without unnecessary
disturbance,like lifting the roof or tapping on the side of the hive to see if they are ok.