From: Stephen Augustine <jegadoss@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: jegadoss@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2002 19:02:07 -0800 (PST)
To: BiologicalBeekeeping@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: moving hives...

Hello Allen,

My original question on this topic was to try to
quantify the net effect on a hive when it is moved. I
believe that all the answers we have heard so far,
ranging from "a few feet every couple of hours" to "3
miles all at once" all "work" in that the colony does
not crash and die and for the purposes of pollination
or honey production the net loss in bees is probably
not significant. I daresay I could even move a hive in
the middle of the day to a location just 30 feet away
and still have the colony survive with possibly no
apparent ill effects.

What I was really looking for were explanations that
conclusively outline the orientation behaviour of bees
and their ability to either orient to a new location
or not. Whereas the professional beekeeper might not
worry too much about losing say, 10% of the field
force, as a hobbyist (with four hives) I am somewhat
more attached to my bees and would be interested in
any work that has quantified the net loss in any or
all of the moving methods we have heard so far. I
understand that nothing is 100% but there must be some
statistical range that can be pinned down.

Altogether, moving bees the way we do is not something
that happens to bees in the non-human world and I just
think it deserves a bit more investigation.

Stephen

> Experienced beekeepers actually move hives all over
> the place without any
> worries because they understand the bees and what
> they can get away with.
> However all the factors a pro takes in at a glance
> are impossible to explain
> to a tyro.