As I've already mentioned in previous posts my Dad has had to give up one of his allotments, which is the one my Bees have been taking residence in. You may also be aware that we have acquired the rights to use another bit of land in our area. The owner of this land has given us the OK to keep Bees on the land so the next problem was getting the Bees there.
The problem with moving Bees is that if you are moving them less than 3 miles away from where they were then they may get confused and when they leave the hive return to where they previously were. I searched the internet and asked a few people and the general consensus was that winter is actually a fairly good time to move the Bees anyway. This is because the Bees aren't flying much at the moment due to cold weather and when the good weather returns (he says optimistically!) the Bees should re-orientate them selves to their new location.
All this week has been snowy and freezing so luckily me and my Dad timed it just right by moving the Bees just before the weather turned. I'd already ordered some straps to put around the hives to make sure they didn't separate in transit and I took some cardboard to block the entrances with tape to hold it in place. When the hives were strapped up it was as simple as putting them in a wheelbarrow then move them to the car to then be taken to the new site. Below are the photos I took during this.
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| My Dad wheeling a hive to the car |
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| Both hives in the car ready to be moved |
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| A nice big steaming pile of horse manure ready to be dug in to the land! |
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| A nice row of trees planted, will look better when in full blossom covered in Bees! |
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| The hives in their new home |
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| Straps removed, tape off and entrances unblocked |
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| The row of raspberries has grown some what |
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| I took the lid off the hives to see how much fondant they had left |
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| If you look carefully you can just see a little bee flying near the entrance |
Well done! It's no fun when the hives fall apart in the car.....!
ReplyDeleteWatch out for those raspberries in a few months. My bees love swarming onto the raspberry row - and it's awkward to get them off there (even though there are apple trees right outside their front door!!)
Thanks for that. Last year they swarmed into an apple tree but I will definitely keep an eye on the raspberries for them. One thing with raspberry is that I can sacrifice them better than the Apple trees, if needed I can chop then right down to get to the swarm, not sure my dad would appreciate the same being done to the Apple trees. Wouldn't be so bad if they landed on a branch but last year they landed on the trunk of the tree. I still managed to get them but it was awkward
DeleteIt’s a good thing that the straps helped you transport those hives, Ian. It’s not really fun to have bees buzzing around in your car. Are you commercially making honey, good sir? I’ve been looking to beekeeping as well, though as more of a hobby. Would you care to impart some advice to this aspiring newbie?
ReplyDeleteThelma Bowman
Hi Thelma. Glad you've enjoyed reading. I am not a commercial honey producer by any means. Last year I barely harvested enough for myself without selling any. I'm hoping for a much better year this time. I currently only have 2 hives but hope to have at least 3 going into next winter.
DeleteMy advise for starting would be to read about it as much as you can online and contact your local association, they may run courses for beginners or a taster session. I have written about all my bee experiences so far in this blog so you could read through that but I am by no means an expert.