Transporting Bees Home

jeremy_c · April 20, 2009, 07:58:27 AM

I am picking up my bees today (2 2lb packages) and I am going with a friend of mine who is also picking up their first package of bees (1 2lb package). We are picking them up in Spencer, OH which is about 45 minutes away from me. Is there anything special I need to do to bring them home in the car? Will their packaging be fine, should I bring a box to put the packages in, etc... ?

Thanks for any advice,

Jeremy

Davepeg · April 20, 2009, 08:32:34 AM

Bees should be fine. I would not put them in a box as that could raise the temp of the packages. They can overheat pretty quick. Don't put them in the trunk! We usually make it home without any bees loose in the car (if that's a concern).
Good luck!

indypartridge · April 20, 2009, 12:36:59 PM

Quote from: Davepeg on April 20, 2009, 08:32:34 AM
Don't put them in the trunk! We usually make it home without any bees loose in the car (if that's a concern).
Good luck!

I've had a trunk full of nucs in June for a 2 hour drive. Didn't give it 2nd thought and they were fine.

lmehaffey · April 20, 2009, 12:55:53 PM

What about bringing them home in the bed of a pickup truck? I'm picking up two nucs tomorrow......

Kathyp · April 20, 2009, 01:17:12 PM

that's fine. just make sure they are strapped or stapled together and secured well in the bed.

lmehaffey · April 20, 2009, 01:34:07 PM

Thanks for the reassurance.....my son is going with me and he was worried about the bees being swept away from the open bed of the truck.

Keith13 · April 20, 2009, 02:01:58 PM

Quote from: lmehaffey on April 20, 2009, 12:55:53 PM
What about bringing them home in the bed of a pickup truck? I'm picking up two nucs tomorrow......

Thats how I got mine home

Keith

Hethen57 · April 20, 2009, 02:31:45 PM

I kind of wondered the same thing when I went to pick up my bee packages last weekend...it was a swarming mess of bees, with bees clustered on all of the cages...haha. Just make sure your cage is well sealed and you should be fine with them in an enclosed car...but like everyone else said..try not to jostle them too much and keep them cool.

hankdog1 · April 20, 2009, 03:11:38 PM

i always moved mine with in the back of a truck i've got a screen wood thing that i built to put on the frount of the hive to ventalation worked pretty good for me

buzzbee · April 20, 2009, 07:05:14 PM

I carry mine in the front of the car with me. Ant stragglers will not really be interested in you unless they get caught in your hair.

Michael Bush · April 20, 2009, 08:31:18 PM

Pretend they are puppies. Don't leave them in the car with the windows up. Don't freeze them. Just keep them comfortable.

asprince · April 20, 2009, 09:17:32 PM

Puppies...............I like that. :lol:

Steve

jeremy_c · April 21, 2009, 10:34:54 AM

Well, we brought them home yesterday and all went just fine. We were in a station wagon (anyone remember those!?) and just put them in the back. When we picked them up there were a few bees on the outside, so we brushed those off as we didn't want them flying around in the car :-). Anyway, the trip home was uneventful. I was expecting them to be making quite a bit more noise. They were really pretty quiet. It may have to do with the cool temp's yesterday and them not needing to fan themselves because of it?

Thanks for all the advice,

Jeremy

Cockatoo · April 21, 2009, 09:08:13 PM

I brought mine home in their hive.
They had been working it for 2 days and we caged off the front just after sundown.
There were many still trying to get in.
But I had to go home. I had about 20 on the outside, clinging to the wire mesh.
I put them in the back of my Honda CRV. The bees never left the wire mesh the whole hour and a half trip home.

As for all the stragglers, Ralph set out an empty hive with brood foundation and all the stragglers filled it.
And they're STILL working it! Without a queen! :shock:
He MAY drop a brood in from another hive and let them raise a queen(a Midnight).

Brian D. Bray · April 22, 2009, 02:05:04 AM

If you have a number of packages to transport I would ask that they be kept attached to the lathing that holds the packages together during shipment. Most packages come from the suppplier to the retailer tacked to 1X2 strips with the packages spaced about 6 inches apart. Cutting the striping so that several packages or still tacked together is a very good way to transport them. I just lay the whole strip, packages attached, underneath my bed box, they ride fine.