Beehive moving device

[omnimirage]

I'm needing to move a heavy, four deep beehive, from one side of a property to the other. There's scrub, and sand pits in between and I can't park my car too close to it due to trees in the way.

I'm realising that it'd be quite useful for me to have some sort of tool that I can use to move these hives around. How effective are sack trucks in moving beehives? Do they tend to topple over at all?

All the sack trucks I've seen have been quite pricey. I don't wish to spend much money on something I'd sparingly use. I figure it'd be best to build something, if only I could find suitable wheels, and maybe some cheap metal as well. I've wondered about using wheels from a garbage bin.

What do you guys use to move beehives around?

[Eric Bosworth]

Forks for the bucket of the tractor and hives on pallets is the easiest way for me. I would say you want to use ratchet straps to hold the boxes to the pallet. Otherwise if you hit a bump you will have a major mess and an all around bad day.

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[little john]

What do you guys use to move beehives around?

As far as possible, I don't - seeing as bees navigate to fixed locations.  But if I do, then I break vertical hives down to two boxes or less, strap them together, strap those boxes onto a sack truck - do the move, then rebuild.

I use a slightly modified sack truck, fitted with the same kind of inflatable tyres as used on builders wheelbarrows - medium inflation pressure to help 'iron out' the bumps a little - and pulled backwards.  For success, so much depends on how pitted the ground is.  The larger the wheel diameter, the wider the wheelbase, and the softer the tyres, the better.

Horizontal hives are bl##dy awkward to move.  If they must be moved, then I usually transfer the colonies into standard boxes - then move the empty long hive, then re-install at the new location. In practice, such hives tend to either 'stay put' or are moved as and when they become empty.

I think you're quite right in wanting to have a 'handy tool' around the place, but not wanting to build something that'll only collect dust for much of it's life.

Some offerings from Mann-Lake and Walter Kelly:





LJ

[Acebird]

The best tool to use is a friend.  Knock it down and carry it out with a simple hive lift or stretcher boards.  "Sack" trucks will get buried in the sand.

[Michael Bush]

I also have one of these:
http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/Hive-Carrier

But have never used it because it takes two people and I hardly every have two people.