Moving Hives

[ericbeaumont]

use a nuc at the site of the last hive to leave, with some undrawn comb and stores in it to sustain the returning bees

If there are plenty of bees, why not give them a frame of BIAS to make an emergency queen, or even give a queen?

 

[ericbeaumont]

starting to get annoyed at being stung while working in the garden

Does your wife wear perfume?

 

[Beedogg]

Not whilst gardening.

 

[Beedogg]

I've decided that I have no choice but to move them and accept the consequences. At present all three colonies have queens that are laying well and there is an abundance of bees. So I'm guessing that, worst case, I'll lose a proportion of the flying bees from each colony, before they are replaced by new foragers from the emerging broods. The hives are well stocked with stores so starvation seems an unlikely prospect, but if I need to then I'll feed.

The move is planned for tomorrow evening. I'll keep you updated.

 

[BBC]

I had to move a colony a little less than 100m during the summer a couple of years back because they were getting a bit antsy with our builder who is seriously allergic to bee stings. I moved it one evening and propped a load of leafy twigs in front of the entrance (I've been told that can help to make them re-orientate and there didn't seem to be much to lose by trying it), leaving another box in its place. I had some flying bees go back to the old site, so in the evening I shook them back into the moved hive. Over a few days the numbers returning gradually diminished.

It's not ideal and perhaps stuffing grass in the entrance might help in combination with everything else, but it seemed to do the job in a pinch.

James

I did this with my first colony. I obtained them from a farmer less than a mile away. I was advised to place long twigs in front of the entrance for a month. They re-orientated successfully.
I cut some three foot twigs and stuck them in the ground forming a mini Forrest in front of the entrance (they had room to manoeuvre in and out). I did watch them for an hour or so flying in a figure of eight and then ever increasing circles. Fascinating.
Good luck.

 

[Beedogg]

With a friend we moved the three hives at about 1830 last night, after most of the bees had gone to bed. We moved them on the back of a landrover to their new site which is around 150m from the old one (I'd decided against the original idea of moving them 400m). I closed up the hives overnight and then re-opened them this morning. I also put a poly nuc with some frames of foundation at the site of one of the old hives.

This morning the three moved hives are quite active. The weather is warm, if windy. There are quite a lot of bees flying from and returning to the hives and some pollen going in. So at least some of the foragers appear to be foraging and returning to the hives at the new site. On peeking inside I can see the supers full of bees (I have perspex crown-boards).

At the old site the poly nuc is covered in confused foragers. My plan is to take the nuc and shake any forager bees back into one of the hives this evening. I then plan to repeat that process until no further foragers return to the old site.

 

[JamezF]

Under the circumstances that sounds like a reasonable success.

James

 

[Beedogg]

Here are the hives in their new location.

 

[Beedogg]

And some clearly didn't get the memo and are clustered on the empty nuc at the old location.

 

[Beedogg]

And a short vid of bees doing some foraging at the new site.

 

[JamezF]

That's a few more than I was expecting at the old site...

If you're shaking them into a hive tonight, perhaps try propping twigs across the entrances to see if that helps?

James

 

[Beedogg]

OK, I'll give that a go. Thanks.

 

[Erichalfbee]

OK, I'll give that a go. Thanks.

A much better way is to leave a drawn super at the old site then in the evening just pop the super on top of one of the hives. You may need to repeat a few times.

 

[Beedogg]

That's a good idea. Thanks.

 

[Beedogg]

I moved the poly nuc last night at about 6. It was absolutely full to the brim with bees, with around half again clinging to the outside.

I shook the bees into the three hives and we'll see what today brings.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Put a super on a floor at the old site. At least they bees that return will go in at night. It might even be better to put them on one hive tonight over one sheet of newspaper

 

[Boston Bees]

Here are the hives in their new location.
View attachment 31542

Lovely, but oh my goodness, they look precarious.

Unless there are some major screws connecting the hives to the bases that I can't see

 

[Beedogg]

Lovely, but oh my goodness, they look precarious.

Unless there are some major screws connecting the hives to the bases that I can't see

I'm not sure that I understand. They are pretty stable and each is on a stone plinth on wooden beams for levelling. I very much hope that they are not precarious....
The tall one (the Demaree) does look a little top-heavy, I grant you, but it's also pretty heavy and so sits firmly on its feet and I've spirit-leveled it all (although the picture is distorted a bit and shows a bit of a list that is an optical illusion).

Have I missed something..?

 

[Boston Bees]

I'm not sure that I understand. They are pretty stable and each is on a stone plinth on wooden beams for levelling. I very much hope that they are not precarious....
The tall one (the Demaree) does look a little top-heavy, I grant you, but it's also pretty heavy and so sits firmly on its feet and I've spirit-leveled it all (although the picture is distorted a bit and shows a bit of a list that is an optical illusion).

Have I missed something..?

If you pushed on that tall one horizontally, from the side, how much force would be required to tip it off its rail?

Not as much force as would be exerted by a decent gale, I would suspect.

But I could be wrong.

 

[Beedogg]

Fair point. Of course by autumn the top two lifts will be off again and the hives will be only three lifts high. I'm also going to put in some hurdle fencing on the windward side in anticipation of another Storm Eunice (which blew over the hen-house ).

But I do agree that as soon as one gets into the Demaree form then you end up with something of a sky-scraper - and mine only has a single super between the two brood boxes and one on top. If it had two it would be even more humungous...