moving my bees small distances

[peter]

just caught our first swarm and we have got our box beneath a tree we have to burn.  we want to move them fifty metres away.  how do we do it?  a foot a day?  please help!  any thoughts thanks.

[hankdog1]

Wait until late afternoon plug them up and make the move.  After you get them there puff them with smoke remove the screen you used to plug them up and put grass on the bottom board.  That should take care of orientation to the new site.

[Brian D. Bray]

Hankdog1's suggestions are good.  You can move a hive up to 100 feet following that method without any significant bee loss.  However 50 meters is about 160 feet so little more detail is required.  The late day/evening move time is best as the majority of foragers will have returned to the hive (there will be some that stay out overnight).

Move the hive to your desired location and face it in a different direction than it had been, if it had been facing south then face it east at it's new location.  Place an entrance obstruction (several works better) at the hive face.  Small rocks on the front of the bottom board, entrance reducer, or some such device works well.

The different orientation plus the obstructions will force the bees to reorientate to the hives location.  The hive can be returned to its original facing direction after a few days.

Back at the hives origninal location place a small card board box or tin can for any straggler bees to congregate in.  Stragglers (overnighters) or those that failed to reorientate will return to the hives original location, they will fly in an ever enlarging circle trying to find the hive and if they fail  to find it they will congregate in the box or can when they tire, they can then be returned to the hive in the evening, just place the box or can facing the entrance of the hive at its new location.

I've seen bees expant their circle up to 100 feet but seldom beyond that when searching for their hive.  That's why the extra precautions are necessary or make the move in increments of about 50ft every other day.
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[hankdog1]

Brian almost forgot the extreme method of doing this and know a guy that did it just cause he thought it was the right thing to do.  Loaded up the hive and took it 2 and a half miles away left it for about a week and brought it back and placed it in the desired location.  It works but like i say it's a bit exteme to be able to move them no further then that.  Goes to show you not everything in bee books is the absolute truth.

[sc-bee]

Check out MB,s website: http://www.bushfarms.com/beesmoving.htm

I have used this method a few times with success. Basically as said in above post.

[joebrown]

I typically wait until dark before moving any of my bees. I would simply close them up with a screen, move them to their new location, and then remove the screen! If moving a short distance, I like to place a small tree or bush limb in front of the entrance. Preferably the limb will have leaves. This way, when the bees come out in the morning they will have to crawl through the leaves, which will let them know something has changed. It works great! Just remember, the foragers that did not make it in will go back to the old location for a day or two, but they will eventually disappear!

[peter]

thanks for your replies. i am just a bit worried because it is a new colony and it is very weak so i want to lose as few bees as possible.                                                thanks