Hi, I was wondering if I could hear some feed back from you guys about your thoughts on buying and moving established hives in the fall. I am located in Southwestern Ontario, so right now the average daily temperature highs are around 8 to 10C. I have all my hives wrapped and I was going to buy some more in the spring, but found some for sale now because the beekeeper can't lift the supers anymore due to back problems. So I was wondering your thoughts on how risky it is to the queen getting damaged etc. I know it isn't the best idea to buy in the fall because you assume the risks of winter losses but there is less competition for hives right now. Would I be better off to buy them now, and move them in the spring? The hives are about a 2 hour drive south from me. The guy is asking $220 for doubles and $180 for singles and a half. Does this seem reasonable for fall hives. He said they were more this year because of heavy losses in the spring. Any advice or opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Susan
Buying/Moving hives in the fall
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Tom
Susan,
You sound like a beekeeper with some experience and you seem familiar with the potential risks. Personally, I dislike opening colonies much after August, but moving them probably involves less risk. I doubt there is any more risk to the queen of moving then as opposed to other times. There would be less risk of damaging a lot of brood by shaking it free of its mooring in the cells. Assuming you know their disease situation and are satisfied with the risk without having to inspect the frames, I would move them as soon as possible. As for the price, well, as you know if you buy 10 in the fall and 2 die, then the final cost went up by 20 percent. On the other hand, this may be a cost you are willing to bear if you anticipate a shortage of opportunity to buy in the spring. I suspect $220 would have been very reasonable this past spring in most parts of the country, $260 might have been on the expensive side (assuming the 20% loss).
Cheers,
Tom
You sound like a beekeeper with some experience and you seem familiar with the potential risks. Personally, I dislike opening colonies much after August, but moving them probably involves less risk. I doubt there is any more risk to the queen of moving then as opposed to other times. There would be less risk of damaging a lot of brood by shaking it free of its mooring in the cells. Assuming you know their disease situation and are satisfied with the risk without having to inspect the frames, I would move them as soon as possible. As for the price, well, as you know if you buy 10 in the fall and 2 die, then the final cost went up by 20 percent. On the other hand, this may be a cost you are willing to bear if you anticipate a shortage of opportunity to buy in the spring. I suspect $220 would have been very reasonable this past spring in most parts of the country, $260 might have been on the expensive side (assuming the 20% loss).
Cheers,
Tom
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Guest
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Tom