Moving hives out to fields

[RoofTops]

I have a picture of OSR just starting to flower on 13th April. As others have said there are lots of variables but "about the middle of April" is probably a good time to plan around.

However, unless there is plenty of other forage around these fields I would delay taking them until the first blossom is open otherwise they could go a bit hungry. Assuming they are currently in a built up area (town) then that is almost certainly the best place for them for the moment.

At the other end of the time window plan on bringing them back as the flowers start to fade. But you will need to have removed the supers and extracted by then and left them with at least one empty super as the colonies are likely to be large and probably won't fit into a single brood box - if that is what they are on currently.

Unless you have a lot of supers plan on extracting more than once and recycling the supers. You will certainly need 2 per colony and 3 would be much safer. If they get cramped they will swarm at the drop of a hat so "under-supering", i.e. putting the new super underneath any existing partly filled supers, is best. It takes more effort but with only 3 colonies it is manageable.

 

[The Cumbrian]

Hi Justme

No one else putting hives on farm so no problem there.

Thanks for reply

Jeff

Again I wouldn't claim to be qualified to suggest the most appropriate time but one thing does cross my mind. How far away from the garden is the site you intend to use?

I would be remembering the 3 feet 3 miles rule for any move.

 

[Poly Hive]

I was taught and have practiced moving the hives when roughly 10% of the field is in flower.

PH

 

[Jeff Buzz]

That sounds like a good plan PH

Can you send me a link to your manipulation technique that has been mentioned in the thread please.

I was taught and have practiced moving the hives when roughly 10% of the field is in flower.

PH

 

[drstitson]

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=15902

 

[oliver90owner]

I was taught and have practiced moving the hives when roughly 10% of the field is in flower.

That may be so, but, (as usual?) horribly flawed. Think about two fields at suitable extremes: one of 1Ha and another of 100Ha - in the first instance there are just 0.2 Ha of flowers in bloom, whereas the availability to the bees (within flying distance), in the second instance, to open flowers is one hundred times the former. A more important issue may well be when the flowers open and when they start secreting nectar.

 

[Meg]

The thing is RAB, 0% of a field in flower means nothing to collect and 50% means a lot is lost already, so as a good ball park 10% is pretty good regardless of the field size. Unless the beekeeper is moving a couple of hundred colonies in, it really is going to make little difference.

 

[oliver90owner]

Meg,

You are so right. Any number multiplied by zero gives an aswer of zero. Mathematical fact, I am sure most are aware of (although the number of students who give the wrong answer is considerable). The flaw in that argument is clearly demonstrated when you use any other value than zero.

I have just noticed I hit the 2 instead of 1 in my post. I do actually know it should read 0.1 Ha for the one Hectare field. You would not get the same result for a 100Ha field - the answer will be a whopping ten hectares for the bees to go at.

Time is more a consideration than number of flowers I think. 10% could represent quite a bit of lost collection time in most cases. Time is irrecoverable, too, unless working to a pre-fixed schedule (where time can be 'made up')

Me? I put them on site as soon as (or a little before) I see any flowers in bloom (usually there are small patches such as the headlands or sheltered from the wind but in the sun) where the bees will find enough to be going on with. Of course I check, if I am unsure of stores in the large colonies, but usually they will find something to make a start on, or have enough reserves to tide them over should the weather turn chilly.

I think in this thread we are talking of ten colonies? Perhaps you need to refer back to the OP. Not all of those would be strong enough to transfer as a production stock, I would assume (certainly the case for me), either. We were asked about the best time and I really do consider being late as non-optimal, would you not agree with that?

I am lucky that I do have a life, thank you very much. Your comment is out of order, I do believe. Perhaps you would please remove it?

 

[Poly Hive]

As some of you know I like to keep things simple and being a bit mathematically challenged... I look at a field and think hmm there is more in flower than there was.

I mentally divide the area into ten and think now how much of that ten, using the most open in flower part of course, is in flower? then make my seemingly flawed decision.

Frankly some are determined to make simplicity difficult and it is not.

PH

 

[drstitson]

rab and PH - i think you both have valid points - for those unfamiliar with the timings of OSR waiting until there is a decent amount flowering is sensible (and likely to only involve a couple of hives anyway so unlikely to strip the crop dry!). but even 0.1% of 100Ha would be fine to support a couple of hives.
the problem of course comes last autumn where the first sight of yellow might have suggested an imminent crop - in that case the 10% rule would have been an excellent standard and which would have saved disappointment/disaster.

 

[beesknee]

End of last year I moved some hives into my garden from some subject to flooding over winter and so I could feed and generally keep an eye on them.

I am planning to site them in a field surrounded by rape bounded by 3 different farms hoping that as they may possibly be using different varieties of rape and using different husbandry the bees will have a choice of rape to collect from.

When would be the best time to move to move them out please????

you can move them any time so long as they have food they will be ok and ready and waiting for the rape to flower.I have moved hives in the middle of winter with no problem

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

Was chatting to a farmer friend of mine last night and he says he is expecting a bumper OSR crop this year, and flowering early, maybe even from the end of the month.

 

[Jeff Buzz]

I think that a lot of the rape we saw growing last autumn was in fact Charlock a yellow weed that grows with the rape that is usually killed off be the frosts.



the problem of course comes last autumn where the first sight of yellow might have suggested an imminent crop - in that case the 10% rule would have been an excellent standard and which would have saved disappointment/disaster.[/QUOTE]

 

[tidymeup]

I was taught and have practiced moving the hives when roughly 10% of the field is in flower.

PH

I to have been thought this and when in the fields it seems to make sense as their should be enough pollen available to them at this stage.