Changing Hive Orientation

[Orlando]

Winter temps here in NY. I want to rotate my hives 180 degrees. Is it fine to just go ahead and do it being that the bees are not flying?

[tefer2]

Sure, why not. They will sort it out come spring

[BeeMaster2]

Winter is the best time to do it. Remember, the bees have to re orient after a couple of days of being in the hive without flying. More than likely, in the spring they will be all be re orienting, Most of them will be for the first time.
Jim

[Orlando]

Tks...thats what I was thinking but wanted to make sure.

[Michael Bush]

Odds are it will work out ok because they've been confined 72 hours or more, but this is the time of year that the bees can't afford to get confused.  They are taking quick short flights and need to get back in before they get chilled.  I'm always a bit hesitant to change things.

[o.molchanov]

Do not forget to face them to the East at Spring. During the wintering you can rotate hives as you want.

[rwlaw]

I'm with Micheal. Had a discussion w/ my bud about that, his therory is they don't lose their orientation within a certain time frame, just location, so I tested a hive when I knew the weather was going to be snotty & cold for a week and turned them 90 degrees.
It was a good 8 days before they could fly again and there were quite a few bees still heading for the side of the hive and then working their way around. On a cold sunny day they might not have had the time to get it right.
Or maybe I got dumb bees? :-D

[BeeMaster2]

They are smart enough to remember the hive entrance from 8 days ago.  :-D
Did you put a branch in from of the hive to get them to re orient?
Jim

[rwlaw]

Nope no branch, a barrier would add exposure time to the cold air.