moving distance

[DANIEL QUINCE]

What is the minimum distance you can move the hives to? Can the range fields intersect? I guess the question is: if they recognize the area, would they fly the extra mine outside of the new range, to get to the original location?
Thank you
Daniel

[Michael Bush]

>What is the minimum distance you can move the hives to?

An inch.

> Can the range fields intersect? I guess the question is: if they recognize the area, would they fly the extra mine outside of the new range, to get to the original location?

Yes and no. If you just move a hive less than 2 miles they will probably fly back to the new location. If you put a branch in front of the hive most will reorient and only a few will fly back to the original location. If the new location is a few hundred yards they will circle until they get back to the new location.

[Big Stinger]

What Michael said really does work. Cause
i moved my 2 hives about 100 yds. And put a
branch in front of hives and when i opened
them up they flew through the branch and looked
like a cloud hovering around the branch. And
only a few went back to old location but at
dusk i put empty super and top there. And went
back at 10 pm and moved them to new location.
And all was well.

[Sundance]

An inch........ Good one MB. ;)

I am doing the following.

1. Limit each yard to 40 colonies.

2. Each yard is 5 miles from any other.

[Brent Bean]

If you only have to move them a short distance, like 10 feet you can move them a couple feet a day. If you don’t want to do that move them about three miles to a temporary yard after a few weeks move them back to the new location.

[Robert Hawkins]

Daniel, since no one mentioned it I will. The old rule before the branch was move the hive less than two feet or morre than two miles. That works.

The branch is a way around this rule. It's a trick and the rule works better than the trick. It's more reliable to have two yards at least two miles apart. If you can't then make the trick work for you.

Hawk

[DANIEL QUINCE]

Actually I may need to remove some bees (cone method I hope)from a house about 3/4 mile away and I was wondering if once the bees are gone, if I can bring another hive to do the clean-up.
Thank you everyone.
Daniel

[iddee]

Daniel, If you put the captured hive in the spot you remove the strong hive from, and put the strong hive where the catch hive is, the field bees will just take up with the hive they return to, regardless of which one it is.

In other words, continue with your plan, it will work fine. As above, the only thing I want to add is "place the captured hive on the stand you remove the cleanup hive from".

[Michael Bush]

Moving them two feet at a time ten times is much more disruptive to the hive than moving them twenty feet all at once and putting out the branch. Two feet at a time disrupts them ten times. Moving them all at once disrupts them once.

Not to mention that you have to move the hive ten times instead of once. Who wants to do that?!