Moving Nucs -3miles

Mabee · Aug 29, 2021

I have been researching and have lots of conflicting advice.
I need to move a nuc about a mile. They have a new laying queen about 2 weeks now (1).
Plan is to move in evening and leave in nuc for 72hrs (2), put branches in front of hive when I open and place old nuc in old spot for old foragers which may return (3).

Questions I have relating to the above is
1. will this affect queen acceptance?
2. will the OMF be enough ventilation while they are locked in, should I put some water in the feeder or syrup?
3. When bringing the foragers back after 3 days(?) can I recombine them with newspaper to aid their relocation and memory?
Any help would be appreciated at this stage as I don’t want to mess it up!

Bakerbee · Aug 31, 2021

Hiya, I've done this method when moving my bees about 500 yards.
Firstly I must say I've only done this when I absolutely had to in a case of urgency, normally I would wait till winter as its much easier.

At the temperatures we have in the UK atm the omf is fine for ventilation. I've only kept mine in for 48hrs, it was sufficient for mine. I moved late in the evening, once dark. When set up in their new location and it's time to open them up, make sure you've plenty of vegetation in the way, ( they need to really get this is not usual ) I have used layers of bracken and fern fronds and used duck tape to keep it in place.
Any that return to old site I combine on top with a sheet of newspaper and a slit, in case they don't recognise hive scent( tho I suspect their memory is much better than I give them credit for but I font take the chance.
Hope this helps

Mabee · Aug 31, 2021

Bakerbee said:
Hiya, I've done this method when moving my bees about 500 yards.
Firstly I must say I've only done this when I absolutely had to in a case of urgency, normally I would wait till winter as its much easier.

At the temperatures we have in the UK atm the omf is fine for ventilation. I've only kept mine in for 48hrs, it was sufficient for mine. I moved late in the evening, once dark. When set up in their new location and it's time to open them up, make sure you've plenty of vegetation in the way, ( they need to really get this is not usual ) I have used layers of bracken and fern fronds and used duck tape to keep it in place.
Any that return to old site I combine on top with a sheet of newspaper and a slit, in case they don't recognise hive scent( tho I suspect their memory is much better than I give them credit for but I font take the chance.
Hope this helps

Really helpful, thank you

oliver90owner · Sep 1, 2021

Think about what you have what you are going to do and how to mitigate any losses.

1) Colonies are moved quite often. Have you heard of any ‘queen acceptance problems’ by moving a hive (other than moving while the queen is mating)?

2) How long do you expect to take to move the hive one mile? What area is the OMF compared to a normal hive opening? I would not be constraining flying for three days. Larval development requires water. What material is the nuc made from? Where is it to be situated (full sun or in shade)? Vegetation, to encourage re-orientation is good, but if foraging between the old and new site, foragers returning to the old site can be a problem (hence the usual, well proven, ‘3 feet, 3 mile rule’). Placing the hive in a different direction to the early morning sunlight is also a clear message to the bees that something has changed…

3) If you think about it, could you first arrange your nuc to be close to one, or more, of your other colonies? Any returning foragers could easily be absorbed by moving the adjacent colony such that any returning bees go to that colony. Better to not need to return any bees and, no, uniting a few bees by newspaper would likely be futile. Reinforcing the nuc (if necessary) with a frame of emerging brood would be the thinking beekeepers response to a weakened colony.

Mabee · Sep 2, 2021

Thank you for such a detailed response. I have decided to move them to my garden for 3 weeks from tonight then up to the new spot, I had hoped to do it in one go but feel this is probably the safest way not to lose foragers. it’s getting busy with bees in the garden and felt I was at capacity as it was but neighbours are quite happy so that’s the plan!

TomH · Sep 2, 2021

I moved a colony just under 1.5miles a few weeks ago with no issues. I think topography also helps, if you're in a different valley etc, they seem less likely to return.

I did as others have mentioned here. Over a few days before the move, i edged the hive closer to a neighbouring hive, within about two feet. Moved the hive to it's new location, blocked up the entrance with grass and let the bees push it out. No magic sticks needed. I placed a nuc box on the now vacant stand and I did have a few returnees, probably less than a hundred bees, which had gone from the nuc by the next day, presumably begged their way into the adjacent hive.

Mabee · Sep 11, 2021

So I have moved this nuc to my home which is almost exactly 3 miles, left a nuc in the old spot but had no returning foragers. This hive has now been in the new spot for over a week, so do I need to let it stay here for another 2 (I read somewhere 3 weeks) before moving to the new location which was a mile from the original location?