Transporting hives in the cold

[bassman1977]

I know you can move hives short distances in the cold, such as in the same yard, but is there a temperature where you would not want to move hives longer distances...say 10 miles?  Last night was down to 28 degrees F.  I was thinking of taking a hive or two to my in-law's for next year.  Doing it in the spring is not a big deal but getting it out of the way would be nice.  The hives would be in open air during the transport.  Either on a trailer or bed of a truck.

[Michael Bush]

Odds are at 28 they will do fine.  The comb is a bit more brittle and if it's really cold I worry about bees falling out of the cluster and not being able to get back up.  But at 28 the inside of the hive is probably warm enough for them to climb back up with no problems.  Of course, try (operative word "try") not to hit too many bumps.