moving hives and stragglers

[goertzen29]

Hello,
I recently moved my two hives about 3/4 of a mile.  I read Michael Bush's pages on moving hives a few times and other postings about moving hives, I did it in the evening in the evening and placed sticks or grass in the entrance before opening so they are forced to relocate.  The next day after moving them I went out to our orchard (the old location) to find it swarming with bees, circling around where the hives had been.  I got a box out for them and proceeded to move them over the next morning, same as I did the hives.  But around the end of the second day after I have first moved the hives I noticed a fist-sized cluster of bees hanging off a cherry tree at the old location.  I boxed those up too and took them over, now I'm on day three. 

I guess I'm wondering if it's normal to have bees return to the old location even two days later and how many?  I have now been careful to completely clean up the old location but is this just how it goes when moving hives?

Secondly, the old adage states, move a hive 2 feet or 2 miles....But if some of my bees weren't "reorienting" 3/4 of a mile away why would they act any differently if I moved them 10 miles away (provided I did it all the same)?  Is the move of over "2 miles" just so I don't have to see that some of my bees are not going to reorient and will become lost in the process (since they probably wouldn't travel the full 10 miles to the old location)? 

any thoughts?
Jay

[iddee]

>>>>Is the move of over "2 miles" just so I don't have to see that some of my bees are not going to reorient and will become lost in the process<<<<

That is the question I have asked many times and have never gotten an answer for.

Yes, first day, many. Second day, quite a few. Third, only a handful. Fourth or fifth day, none.

I just move them and don't worry. They will find a hive to go to, whether theirs or another.

[Michael Bush]

>I recently moved my two hives about 3/4 of a mile. 

Unfortunately this is about the worst distance to move them.  The ones that return will circle and look for the hive.  If it's a hundred yards they will get that far out in about 30 minutes or so.  But if it's 3/4 of a mile they may never get that far out to find the new location.

Bees seldom find their way back to the old location if moved more than 2 miles.  A mile and a half radius is typically their normal memorized landmarks.

[goertzen29]

after I read up more on moving hives(after I had moved them) I realized that the distance could create a problem considering that the bees probably wouldn't be able to fly around and find their new home if they hadn't reoriented themselves.  Oh well, it seems I have caught the vast majority of those returning to the old location, and moved them over too.  Live and Learn I guess.  Thanks for the thoughts and I'm glad to hear some input from those more experienced.

But does anyone know, (maybe there's no way to "know") do some and about how many bees get lost after a hive is moved, any distance whether its a few hundred yards or miles?  I'm just curious partially b/c I want want to know how much I'm hurting/disturbing my hives each move,  and how often is too often to move?
Jay

[Michael Bush]

Any move disturbs the hive.  Two feet, a hundred yards, a mile, five miles.  I would never move a hive without a reason, but I would never hesitate to move one with a reason.