I am thinking of moving my hives

[joker1656]

My hives are currently on the back half of my property.  They are just inside the woods facing south.  They never really get direct sun, but that spot in the woods is "sunny".  I have weed mat down around the hives to keep vegetation from causing problems, but feel it is just a little damp back there. 

In my front yard I have an area along the farm fence that might work for a few (8) hives.  Really would not be facing south (does it really matter?).  My kids and family don't really hang out there too often.  One row of scrub trees in the fence row (less than in the current area), and at least direct sun from around 1100 until 1800ish.  The ground is not as damp, and the foliage is much less.  In the winter they would not have quite as much of a natural windbreak, but I think I can remedy that to some extent.   

I think it sounds/looks better.  If it does, should I wait 'til fall to move them...or do it now?  Do you think within 50 yds of my front door/driveway is irresponsible?  No problem hives, aggressiveness-wise....

[harvey]

Just a thought,  My hives sit down next to my pond,  A lot of dew and fog but they do get sunlight most of the day.  This year I put out swarm traps back in the woods.  I was totally but pleasantly suprised,  I caught four swarms out of the woods near a swamp.  This section of woods has several very large old maples about four feet through.  I realize the actual hive these bees are coming from is probably high in the air but there is very little sunlight in that area of the woods and it is also quite damp?   All my bait hives were hung about 15 feet off the ground in the shade of the trees and the bee's moved right in?  Maybe a little dampness and not so much sun is not a bad thing?  I guess that might be determined to if you have small hive beetles in your area or not?  So far I have not seen any in my section of michigan.  Might be more work moving them than it is worth.  Course then you could get intoem more often if they were closer.

[AllenF]

They are going to be really heavy to move them now, but it can be done.  Lighter in the winter, easier on you to move. 

[joker1656]

Yeah, you are right.  I did think about the weight.  I don't know if moving them will make a difference, but I am leaning towards trying it. 

Any opinion on whether having the entrances facing into the fencerow would be a problem?  I am thinking if they are facing that way, it would be easier to work on them, if need be.  As far as direction they would be facing, that would be more of an east/north-east.

Also, back to the location in relation to my house/drive.  Do you think within 50 yds is too close to everyday activities? 

[Hethen57]

I'm in the same boat...I would like to move my hives about 5 feet east to get them better sun exposure in the winter.  I currently have 10 hives within about 50-75 feet of my back door and they are no bother, we garden and work around them all the time. In fact, I am glad they are so close because they require alot more supervision and work than I anticipated, so you want them in a convenient location.  As far as moving, I am thinking of trying to move my 2 box hives now before they get too heavy and my big stack hives in the winter when they are a little lighter, although 2 box hives are still very heavy and dumping one (or having it come apart in transit) would be a disaster.  I am thinking about making a sling off my tractor bucket to do the job, but I haven't totally figured it out yet.

[greenbtree]

Ratcheting tie down straps, BOTH directions.

JC

[dennis2021]

I have 2 hives in my backyard, and they are no problem. One faces the fence and the other faces away, so 1 north and 1 south. Doesn't seem to matter, but then again they haven't been there long.

[joker1656]

Good points all.  I was hoping, initially, to move during the winter, so that they would be light and maybe avoid needing to move them 2 miles and then back again.  My concern, after pondering for a bit, is breaking the cluster while moving.  How easily does that happen?  If it is carried carefully by two people instead of on a bouncing cart or something, can the cluster be moved intact?

[AllenF]

Put a ratchet strap around the whole hive, top to bottom, then move it in place.  Put a strip of window screen over the front door.