Relocating hive

[brinicombe.p]

I am planning on relocating my bees to a sunnier part of the garden, can this be done late winter without having to move them miles away first?
Also I plan to move them from a National hive to a Top Bar hive and would appreciate any tips or advice.

 

[Sutty]

1. Yes. Wait until the forecast is cold enough to keep them in for a good few days then move them.
2. Don't

 

[ericbeaumont]

move them from a National hive to a Top Bar hive

You must have given this some thought; what drove the decision?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I am planning on relocating my bees to a sunnier part of the garden, can this be done late winter without having to move them miles away first?

yes, moved some of mine a few days ago, they never stirred

Also I plan to move them from a National hive to a Top Bar hive

when you say 'sunnier spot' I didn't realise you meant sub Saharan Africa
If not, don't

 

[drex]

Top bar beekeeping is a whole new ball game. After a few years handling Nationals I built a TBH. Taught me a lot extra about bees and management that I would not otherwise have acquired. I started it off using " chop and crop" of National frames. It was an interesting few years, but produced little honey. I got fed up with it and converted it to take National frames. Give it a try if you like, but why do you want to?

 

[pargyle]

I am planning on relocating my bees to a sunnier part of the garden, can this be done late winter without having to move them miles away first?
Also I plan to move them from a National hive to a Top Bar hive and would appreciate any tips or advice.

Rather than going to a top bar ... if there is a reason for going to a horizontal hive .., think seriously about a framed long deep hive ... much easier to handle than top bar hives and more successful in many ways.

You have your answer to moving .. pick a cold spell when they willl be confined for a few days and move them,

 

[brinicombe.p]

Thank you for your help, The reasons for trying the horizontal long hive is that I have not had much success with my bees in the National hive and another beekeeper suggested that I try a topbar hive which he uses quite successfully, I have also read good reports about it so decided to give it a go. I will still have a National to full back on.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have not had much success with my bees in the National hive

Can you explain the problems you’ve had ?
Not many can be down to the type of box, surely.

 

[drex]

A horizontal long hive and a top bar hive can be totally different things. If anything I found outcomes in horizontal hives not as good as in standard vertical. I would look at type of bee and my management before changing boxes

 

[Matty Brown]

Top bar hives are very good if you plan on taking no honey, which I doubt you are wanting to do. I would recommend you use 22 frame long hives instead. You can make these yourself as they are much simpler then standard national hives to make. The plus is that the frames are then compatible with your national hives. The management process would be the same as top bar hives. Just put a small starter strip of foundation at the top of a national brood frame and the bees would draw out the bottom of the frame the same as they would in a top bar hive. Moving from a standard national hive to a long hive is a very simple procedure as well, you just move the frames in.
Below is a picture of one of my friends 22 frame long hives. He has made a 22 frame super to go above the hive. Moving the super is a simple procedure you just take the frames out of the super to extract. You don't try to carry the whole 22 frame super with capped honey frames in all at once.

 

[user 11159]

Thank you for your help, The reasons for trying the horizontal long hive is that I have not had much success with my bees in the National hive and another beekeeper suggested that I try a topbar hive which he uses quite successfully, I have also read good reports about it so decided to give it a go. I will still have a National to full back on.

i would stick with what you have. look at what you did wrong .or went wrong .

 

[brinicombe.p]

I realise that the problems I have had will not be solved by changing the my hive.
It is a horizontal long hive not a topbar hive that I will be moving my bees to, I didn't realise the difference.
I realise that I will get less honey but should still harvest enough for my family. I will get more wax.

 

[Swarm]

You will be enjoying your bees, which is all that counts