Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

I have to move my hives ( 25 of them) into a new yard . New owners, long story.
The new yard is about 300m away from the present spot.

I know I should move the bees a few km away for a few days and then back to the new location - but it is a lot of work.

I have moved bees a few hundred metres in the past quite successfully.

I only opened the entrance part way and made sure that a very visible new marker was in front of the hives.

Any other ideas which are not too much work?
Most the hives are only one brood box with a 1/2 super but some are 3 supers high....and I'm not a spring chicken anymore.

If you don't want to extract pull two of the supers off and place one each on another hive before you move.

This article from Honey Bee Suite comes to mind: https://www.honeybeesuite.com/how-to-move-a-hive/

Although Rusty later had trouble with this method, as she described in this article: https://www.honeybeesuite.com/before-you-move-a-hive-read-this/

So it's a hit or miss thing, but it could be worth a try. 

Not far enough. You are going to have to move them somewhere else at least 4 km away for at least 7 to 10 days before placing at the new location.  There is no way around it. .. Unless you are fine with losing alot of lost bees to exposure and are ok allowing the old location the be lit with flying circling bees and clustering in the grass there for a week or so. If the need is to get rid of the bees from the old spot, for reasons unsaid, this is going to make that situation much worse.
I say 4 Km because I have moved yards less than that (3km) and it is surprising how many bees go back and fly around the old spot.
You could move all but 4 or 5 of the weakest hives. They would pickup the return flyers. However 300m is way too close. Those hive left behind will overflow with the large catchment and the moved hives will be severely depleted.
There is a big difference between moving a few hives and moving a yard of 25. Not only the amount of work but in the amount of bees in the air. Sorry to say, but to do this properly you are absolutely in a double move situation.
Move at dusk, loading as the sun is going down or in the very early morning before the sun comes up. If in the morning you must finish unloading with hives on the ground at the new spot at dawn before the sun crests. I prefer nights moves.  At night it is just moving boxes and if anything goes wrong I have plenty hours of darkness to get sorted and resolved before the sun turns a box moving problem into a flying bee storm problem. Morning moves and watching the sunrise are nice, but there is no wiggle room for the unexpected. A simple move event can quickly become frantic chaos. Be sure to communicate with your landowners so call-outs do not show up in the middle of you handling boxes full of stinging insects. (Eg Police /lookyloos)

Hope that helps!

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I had hoped that somebody out thers had a fool proof method which would NOT involve shifting the hives twice.

Not so.

We are looking at using a trailer, leave the hives on there for a few days ( I have a yard about 15km away) and then take them to the final destination...repeat.

Not looking forward  to the work .

Thanks !

QuoteNot looking forward  to the work .

Thanks !

Just one example of several designs discussed on the TOPIC: "Hive Lifts"

https://youtu.be/pOAF9QB9Xh0ii

Quote from: Ben Framed on April 15, 2022, 05:21:39 AM
Just one example of several designs discussed on the TOPIC: "Hive Lifts"

https://youtu.be/pOAF9QB9Xh0ii

The best lift of all

https://www.hummerbee.com/xrt-rough-terrain-forklift

QuoteThe best lift of all

https://www.hummerbee.com/xrt-rough-terrain-forklift

Nice Commercial Rig HP!  Do you like it even better than the EZ loader 'type' used by Ian Steppler and Oldbeavo for commercial work?
Also listed on the  Topic: "Hive Lifts"

In this case I was attempting to help Max in (what I assume), is a hobby beekeeping situation. The portable hand operated type lifts offer a way for an older person, or any person for that matter, the ability to lift and move the entire hive, or separate hives, for various reasons which may apply such as adding a queen exclude, pollen trap, or adding a dividing board. Including pulling honey supers with out lifting the boxes with the back taking the beating.   :grin:

Phillip

Quote from: max2 on April 14, 2022, 10:49:16 PM
Thanks for all the suggestions.

I had hoped that somebody out thers had a fool proof method which would NOT involve shifting the hives twice.

It's worth remembering that the flying (forager) bees will re-orientate to  a new location, even if you just turn the hive by 90 degrees. They also "learn" 2 routes, 1 from hive to forage and 2, from forage back to hive. It's this second route that can cause problems. After they have been moved the problem of returning bees only occurs if they start feeding on a patch of forage where they have previously learnt their way back to the old location.
What I have done in the past, in similar circumstances, was to move all my hives bar 1 to the new location and allow any returnees to old apiary to enter the sole remaining  hive you have left there. Give it a week or so and them move them as well, and hope the forage has changed. I was pleasantly surprised by how few bees did return to the old apiary site. In fact not sure I'd even bother leaving a hive with bees in old location, I 'd probably just leave an empty hive to collect any returnees and then move that and shake them out in new site. This move, leave for a few weeks and move again....life's too short  :happy:

These are the most popular pallet loaders in Australia

https://avantequipment.com.au/mini-loaders/

The small version used for bees fits on a 8x5 trailer or some will put them on the truck with ramps.

Quote from: max2 on April 14, 2022, 04:06:00 AM
I have to move my hives ( 25 of them) into a new yard . New owners, long story.
The new yard is about 300m away from the present spot.

I know I should move the bees a few km away for a few days and then back to the new location - but it is a lot of work.

I have moved bees a few hundred metres in the past quite successfully.

I only opened the entrance part way and made sure that a very visible new marker was in front of the hives.

Any other ideas which are not too much work?
Most the hives are only one brood box with a 1/2 super but some are 3 supers high....and I'm not a spring chicken anymore.

A lot of work it will be, indeed.  I'm in the process of doing the same thing...temporarily relocating our primary apiary bees to another location about 7 miles away so that we can relocate the apiary to a new area on our property only about 70 yards away. It's been a chore having to relocate the hives offsite in the meantime, but it's a necessity to avoid significant losses and disruption to the hives.

It's good that you're doing some homework on the subject, but unfortunately no shortcuts to recommend here.

Best wishes with your moves.

Now these hive moving dollies and loaders could sure save a beekeeper's back!  :grin:

There times that am out an about with the Ram pickup where a lift would sure be handy.  Especially for loading and dispensing Spring and Fall bears.  Also useful for moving a few hives out or setting  feed barrels or delivering a few honey barrels to packing customers.  So, I have been looking into lift gates lately, for these basic value uses of the standard pickup truck.  Tommy gate style. It would be very useful for various things.
https://www.tommygate.com/liftgates/pickup/g2-series/

But when the hive yard moves and honey season is on, the Hummerbee is much faster and always the goto machine get the job done. Time effort and money get things done and this machine makes short efficient work of any lifting or moving task.
Boom loaders are great, if you are running one truck, one crew, one job at a time. But When there are multiple trucks out with multiple crews; the wheeled loader out working ahead of them and behind them is much faster and less limiting at what can be done.

Moving hives can be part of beekeeping, as migratory BK's our hives may move 5-6 times in a season, including pollination.
With 7 loads of bees, that is a lot of shifting but it is all part of the job to maximise honey production.
Our shifting is 50 hives a load with a utility and trailer, loaded with a 200kg Eazyloader.[attachment=0][/attachment]

Sweet rig .  A trailer mounted boom (EZloader) is a great setup.  What was your ballpark cost for the trailer with boom? Also, what is the reach distance and height limit?

HP the Tommy gate is another good idea. As you said it can be handy for multiple uses. You Commercial guys have it figured out. 

The trailer with front mounted Ezyloader can load the ute as well.
If not on pallets you can load doules on triples but not triples on triples.
The reach is 4.8 meters, 15ft 4 inches from the center of the trailer.
It is self leveling and so moving the load is relatively easy, you have to waltz with it a bit.
Trailer, with gates and Eazyloader was about $40,000.

.  Decent condition hummer is about 35k..45k cdn

http://bushfarms.com/beesmoving.htm

This is just a thought, not a fool proof method.
It?s probably not any easier than moving them the textbook way. These don?t have to be consecutive days. But what if?

Day 1: Move half the hives. Some will beg their way back into existing hives.

Day 2: Move half the hives. Some will beg their way back into existing hives.

Day 3: Move half the hives. Some will beg their way back into existing hives.

Day 4: move all hives except one and add an extra box to catch stragglers. Either move that hive twice, or close it up for a few days once moved.

Day 5: equalize if needed.


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If you don?t have to move them right now, wait until the derth. Move them all, lose a few bees that you won?t need to feed and let them build back up for the winter with winter bees.


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Well, we are on the way of moving the hives.
There are 26 in total.
So far we have moved 18 to the intermediate location - right along a the road to my driveway. We hardly get any traffic.

So far, so good. Heavy work.

One of the biggest iisues, maybe the biggest is...it is sooo wet. We had a lot of rain and working between showers.

The ground is soft. One site we wanted to use was recently under water. Not a good spot.

A few more ( the biggest hives by size) and then the whole thing again in reverse after a few days.

4 0r so nights away should to the trick.

Bees remember where they were. Hence the term bee-line. They need to fly to forget the old and to reorient to the new. If they are confined to the hive by weather, that switch does not happen while they are huddled inside. The goal would be to have a good 3 to 5 actual fly days at the interim location.  Rain days do not count.
Discouraging to hear of the rain and the muck. But wanted to mention that cloud bursts change the timeline. 

For consideration.

TheHoney Pump

You are right - rainy days don't count.
It took these bees 21/2 days or close to, to stop doing orientation flights. Not enough sun, too cloudy.

We dropped of the last load right next to the road.
All that fun - just waiting for somebody to complain - we get very little traffic here and the bees are off the side of the road.

A thought that may help for the few passerbys on the rural road.  You might consider putting out there a placard or laminated paper stuck on one of the hives with a short message saying why the hives are there, or just with your contact information.  Something like;
- these hives are placed here temporary while their new beeyard is being prepared for them. They will be moved as soon as the new grounds are ready. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to call me at xxxxxxxx. I would be happy to hear from you. Thank you for your patience and understanding,   Me -

Thanks, HP - I do have a sign up and the road ends 50m from the hives.
Onl;y one neighbour and he is understanding.
We have moved some of the hives and the bulk will go tommorrow - weather permitting.
I'm glad when this episode is behind me.

Well, the deed is done!

It took us 3 trips to take the bees home and another 3 trips to take them to the new site.
We are getting rather unusual wetter here - the wet should have past but while we shifted the last load  it was raining very heavy.

As a result we could not get close to the hive stands even with a robust 4 wheel drive.

I suffer from Bursitis in both shoulders ( and I'm on the wrong side of 70) and carrying each hive across very wet ground was not my understanding of fun. Thanks to younger backs for the help.

Anyway, all hives are in the new location and I'm looking forward to some fun beework when the bees have settled in.

We used a very simple hive lifter ( I will try to find a photo and post it) which turned out to be great for our purpose.

The bees where surprisingly busy here. I'm told that some gum's are flowering.

Well, the hives have all been shifted to the new location. A heavy job and a wet one!

Great to hear Max!