Moving bees

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Vance G
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Joined: October 26th, 2011, 7:38 pm
Location: Latitude: 47°30′13″N Longitude: 111°17′11″W Great Falls Montana

Moving bees

Unread post by Vance G »

I got a very polite call from a lady where I have bees. After several years in this location, I have to move them to a more secluded less protected place on the land. Field dog trials have had events there regularly and never a problem, but last weekend the meanest colony in Montana got several people when a group parked close to the bee yard. I should have moved the troublemaker right away. It will be too short a move but I will leave a couple weak hives to do cleanup. We have several days of cool hopefully rainy weather forecast so that should help too. We are a week of hot windy weather away from drought here.
Allen Dick
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Re: Moving bees

Unread post by Allen Dick »

If they are mostly confined for three days, a move is not much of a problem.

Other tricks are closing the usual entrance and forcing them to fly from another hole, putting brush or boards over the entrances etc., but I have never really experimented to prove if they work. Three confined days works.
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Colino
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Re: Moving bees

Unread post by Colino »

I always make my moves at night and staple a leafy branch over the entrance so they have to work through it to leave the next morning and they don't miss a beat. We're looking pretty dry here too Vance and now the rain they forecast for the weekend has been called off.
Narcissism is easy because it's me or I, Empathy is hard because it's they or them.-Colino
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Vance G
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Posts: 251
Joined: October 26th, 2011, 7:38 pm
Location: Latitude: 47°30′13″N Longitude: 111°17′11″W Great Falls Montana

Re: Moving bees

Unread post by Vance G »

The move is done except for a a couple pickup hives left in place I will move in a couple days. The temp when I set them back down was 43 and very few came out. It is cloudy and cold so maybe the bees will take a look when they come out. The entrances are setting right in ungrazed native prairie stubble so they have a reason to take a look when they come out. Moving bees is not that big a thing except for your back. One was already heavier than I was comfortable with and some are awful light! When the fruit bloom ends I will have to check to see if I will need to open feed. No bees for miles in any direction. The weatherman said we could get as much as three inches out of our current weather pattern and we need it bad.
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Vance G
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Posts: 251
Joined: October 26th, 2011, 7:38 pm
Location: Latitude: 47°30′13″N Longitude: 111°17′11″W Great Falls Montana

Re: Moving bees

Unread post by Vance G »

Wonderful weather to move bees. It is in the high forties and threatening rain and that is the forecast for several days. Think I better go move my pickup hives I left behind. We desperately need the inch of rain forecast. I see the wheat leaf tips starting to brown.
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