Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Precautions
Before moving your bees you must ensure the hive boxes won't come apart. This
includes the floor and the lid, unless the lids are telescopic. Use straps, staples between
the boxes or clips of some kind. Metal straps are, in my opinion, the best method.
On the journey through Spain, I crashed the van, and the staples holding the hives
together flew apart and so did the hives. I was unable to continue that day simply
because of the number of bees on the windscreen blocking my view. I didn't dare open
the window or they would all have gone. I waited until nightfall when the bees dutifully
went back to their boxes. I then managed to reassemble the hives and nail them up.
The basic rules for moving bees are, then, as follows:
Always strap the hives up tight.
Ensure the hives won't shift and are strapped down well.
Move your bees more than 2-3 km (1-2 miles) away so that you have no problems
with your bees returning.
Move your bees up to a metre away and your bees will have no problems in
returning.
At night, load up, strap down and go.
In bad weather, load up, strap down and go.
During the day, shut the hives the night before when all the bees are in, and allow
plenty of room, ventilation and water.
For short moves of up to an hour, block the hives up at dawn before the bees are
out and then go.
The short move
But what if you need to move your bees only 18 m (20 yds) or so? This can be done but
it is a little laborious. You could take 18 days to do this by moving a metre a day, or you
could move the hive and place a dummy hive with comb on the original site to collect
 
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