Help, I need to move a hive

[stonecroppefarm]

New beek here -- how and when do I move my beehive. This hive, you may have
read about it in my two other posts, was started from a removal late summer
and did not have a sufficient number of bees to survive the winter here in
new england, so I was told and sort of believed. But I didn't give up, I
mortgaged my house and fed 3lbs of sugar per day. then in early December
when things were cold and quiet, I move the hive to a warmer location with
great sun exposure and protection from snow and wind, No, not indoors. By
late December the weather was extremely harsh for southern RI so I
insulated the hive, top, sides, bottom but took care to provide for some
ventilation. Nearly mid February now, and the suckers are still alive much
to the surprise of a few local beeks and the weather still sucks. I know
there is a lot to deal with as spring arrives but I can only deal with one
issue at a time. That issue being, moving the hive to its original location
(permanently) a distance of about 200ft. so, after all that, when and how do I attempt this?

[AllenF]

Pick it up and walk it over there.   Do it at night when they are not flying.   Close them up if you want.   Tape, screen, or a towel, anything to close them up. 

[jdnewberry]

Okay, good news...  You've got a reasonably simple job ahead of you and plenty of time to prepare.

Let's start with when to do it...  Since you're only moving the hive 200 feet or so, you can reallt get away with moving them any time.  Personally, I would wait for the weather to warm slightly and the snow to go away.  It just seems easier to move outside when you're not having to slog through piles of snow.  I would prefer to find a date before they really start flying around, but that's not a huge deal.  

If they have already started working a honey flow before you move them, you have at least a couple of options.  You could either move the hive in small increments (10 yards/day) so that field bees don't become disoriented, or you could move it the whole distance and throw a handfull of grass in the entrance.  The grass wil usually make the field bees take a look around the hive as they exit helping them to take notice of the new location.  they may even find the hive with no trouble without the grass.  It is only 200 feet, after all.

Now for the moving method...  There are probably as many ways to do this as there are members of this forum, and the great news is that none of them are right or wrong.  Depending on how the hive is set up and it's location, that may dictate how you choose to go about it.  First and foremost, close up the entrances.  Window screen and a staple gun work great for this.  Just make sure you do this after the bees have finished work for the day, or you'll have plenty more on the outside trying to get in!  After everything is closed up, put a ratchet strap around the hive to hold it all together.  And that's it...  You're ready to move.

If you're moving it by yourself and the bottom board is pretty low to the ground, you could easily do it in just a few minutes with a hand truck.  Just scoop it up, wheel it to where you want it and drop it into place.  I usually just bribe a brave friend into helping...  Each of you can pick a side, pick it up and walk it to where you need it.  It's really not complicated after you have all the bees locked up inside.

Like I said before...  I prefer to do this before the first nectar flow for the following reasons...  The population is still small, so there are fewer bees to upset.  The honey stores are on the low side after the long winter, so the hive is lighter.  With the bees taking fewer and shorter filghts in the cold weather, there is less of a chance of them becoming disoriented after the move.

Good luck with the move and keep asking around...  I'm sure some of these guys have much better ways than what I just suggested!

[backyard warrior]

Everything sounds good to me just remember not to move the hives until its at least 50 degrees because the bees cluster and when its cold u dont want to disturb that cluster if so you will kill the bees.  Id move them in early spring when the harsh temps are over for good and u start to see some flight activity like the other gent stated. 

[stonecroppefarm]

the responses make moving the hive easier that I expected. backyard warrior's response is interesting, in particular, don't move the hive when the bees are clustered. Not knowing too much about this, in December I waited for them to cluster before moving thinking that all will be quiet and this would not disturb the bees into a state of excitement. I did close the entrance and strapped the hive top to bottom before gently using a large wheelbarrow to move the hive 200ft. Then I cut and placed a few branches of fresh bamboo close to the entrance to draw attention to the change in location. They survived the move even though they had clustered and we have had a few days, very few, where there has been some bee activity outside the hive. I hear this frequently that the hive should not be disturbed when it is cold and I guess the bees are clustered. Certainly I understand that pulling frames would be disastrous but what happens when they are clustered and disturbed that caused the bees to die?

[hardwood]

I move hives around a lot and the colder the better as far as I'm concerned. If they are clustered just make sure not to bump them around too much (which could shake them off cluster). They will reorient just fine after that.

Moving them during flying weather is a bit trickier.

Scott

[Michael Bush]

Do it when on the morning of a nice warm day so they have time to sort things out.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesmoving.htm

[shorty3]

JUST WAIT TILL SPRING. THEN MOVE THEM AT LEAST 2 MILES WAIT A COUPLE OF WEEKS THEN MOVE
TO THE LOCATION YOU WANT THEM TO STAY

[FRAMEshift]

Moving them during flying weather is a bit trickier.
Scott

Scott, why is that a problem?  As long as you close the hive with all the bees in it, why does flying weather cause a problem?

[iddee]

the responses make moving the hive easier that I expected.

I'm glad you think so. The responses make me think I've been doing it wrong for 35 years.

I would wait until the harsh winter is over, but the flow hasn't started and there are still days between flight days. Then I would go out at dusk, when all bees are in, pick up the hive and move it. I have never strapped a hive when going less than a hundred miles. I have screened the entrance for others, but never when I moved my own. I think the two mile deal just loses two groups of non-returnees rather than one, if any are going to be lost.

[Kathyp]

good grief.  just move them.   :-D

[Michael Bush]

Here are the issues:

1) bees confined more than 72 hours tend to reorient, but not all of them do, but most of them do.  Something blocking their path then they leave also tends to set off reorientation as does having the hive banged around or the entrance totally blocked with grass or something else that they can remove but forces them to notice the move.
2) bees will tend to fly back to the old location.  When they don't find home there, their reoirientation will help them find the new location as they can remember it.  If they didn't reorient they won't remember it.
3) those who can't find the hive right off will circle until they do find it.  The downside here is if the weather is cold and especially if it's rapidly cooling, they could get caught out and not find their way back before they get chilled.

So if they are moved after a long confinement before they fly, they tend to reorient.  If they are moved on a warm day, they have more time to find the new location.  A lot of timing issues can work out well or not so well.

[CapnChkn]

We only moved the bees less than a few hundred miles once.  Dad simply moved the hive about 100 yards without increments, I think at dusk.  He says when he went to check on them the next morning the old location had a soda can that had been left there and was filled with them.

He took the can to the hive and there was no more of that behavior, but I cannot tell you if the bees got the idea, couldn't find a cavity to hole up in, or wandered off after that.  My hypothesis is to leave a box which doesn't look like a hive for the bees that didn't get the idea.

[Michael Bush]

I don't put a box out until evening, otherwise they think they found home and won't search for the new one.  But near dark, a box may help get the stragglers.

[skatesailor]

For this region I wouldn't start getting concerned until mid-March. I'd keep the insulation on after you move it out of its protected area until you are comfortable that the weather has settled and you see some regular flight. Hand carrying with a beek friend seems less likely to disturb them, plus he may be able to give you some advice.

[hardwood]

When it's cold out the bees stay put better. Even at night (when we move our bees) during warm weather the bees will boil out of the hive unless you close it up first. Bees don't fly well at night (but will often give it a try) but they sure do crawl. I always get the worst stings when moving them during warm weather. Hand carrying a hive full of bees aint no fun during summer!

Scott

[Acebird]

The downside here is if the weather is cold and especially if it's rapidly cooling, they could get caught out and not find their way back before they get chilled.

I moved our first hive about 50 ft and got a major suprise.

My plan was to do it in two moves for a total of 100 ft.  Within an hour of the first move there were 30000 bees or better busing in the air at the old location.  Instinct tolled me that what I did was not a good thing so we moved the hive back as close as we could get to the old location.  I had my tractor in the way by then so we could only get it to within fifteen feet of the old location.  As time went on my tractor was covered with bees and it was getting colder.  I can't remember how cold it got that night but I think it was in the 40-50 range.  Some went back in the hive but many were all over the ground and looked dead.  We were sick at the thought that we killed all those bees.  But when morning came most of them revived and re-grouped with the other bees.  From that point on we only moved the hive two - five ft at a time until we got to the new location.  The move was a success but surely a close one.

I don't know Michael, maybe it is the branch near the hive opening that makes the difference (we learned that trick afterwards) but I would be reluctant to try it again.

[JP]

Moving a hive 200'? I wouldn't do it in one move unless the temps were below 40F and were going to stay that way for at least three days. I moved one last year when it was warm about 150' and did it in three moves over the course of three days. Bees were stubborn but after a good bit of reorienting it worked out, but man, they worked hard at it.

Your best bet is moving them 1/2 mile or more then bringing them back in again as Shorty mentioned.


...JP

[Brian D. Bray]

Place a screen over the entrance, move the hive to the new location, wait until the next morning and partially remove the screen.  Partially removing the screen will still block the entrance somewhat and with being a new day, not having been able to forage for an entire day, the bees will reorientate on the new location. 
The vast majority of the bees will reorientate, what few don't can be captured using a can or small box, as noted in a post above, which can be taken back to the hive at it's new location, problem solved.

When moving hives it is best to use a screen so that light still filtrates into the hive via the hive entrance.  I have found that, on some occassions, even with completely blocking the light at the entrance of a hive and moving it as much as 300+ miles, some of the bees would dash out to forage and not take time to reorientate to the new location.  The angle of the sun on the entrance, during the move, plays a part in the reorientation requirement.  So use a screen, don't block the entrance with a block of wood or a rag.