Lessons learned from 1st night move

[GaSteve]

Moved 10 hives after dark last night. It went relatively well. I held the hives together with ratchet straps which made for nice handles just under the telescoping cover. Blocked the entrances with entrance reducers and let the SBB supply all the ventilation. I should have smoked them before I started. Bees can crawl VERY fast. Double deeps are extremely heavy. If they were totally full of honey I don't think I could have budged them. Does anyone make a lift to get hives on and off a truck or trailer? The good news was there were almost no stragglers left behind the next day -- so bee loss was a minimum.

The worst part was that while my Brushy Mountain suit was very effective, every place the veil material folded against my neck, I got stung -- 7 times. I looked like a NFL lineman this morning. I've done many cutouts with ticked off bees and never had that happen. Next time I think I'll wear a scarf or something around my neck.

Would like to hear other tips and tricks as well.

[jlyon]

Been there and done that it can be really miserable with some types of veil/suits. I have always felt that for night work a dark colored suit is best. Sometimes depending on temps and other factors I will forgo the veil altogether. I like to get a small head lamp and just use it sparingly.

[Jeffzhear]

I hope you weren't moving the hives yourself...I know when I move them I always have help...two deep supers are just too heavy and bulky for me to move alone safely...unless I had a dolly and a ramp/lift, which I don't have <yet>.

[Panhandle Bee man]

Meyer's used to make an "Easyloader" it was a motorized forklift/dolly type of contraption. You can still on occaision find them on the used market. It had forward, and reverse, Hives that were kept on a pallet could easily be picked up, moved onto the trailer, then at the destination they could be pulled off the trailer, manuveured to where you wanted them and then set down. The small briggs and stranton motor gave enough power so that the only muscle power needed was to tilt the easyloader up/down as needed. It made moving hives fairly easy.

[Keith Jarrett]

> Does anyone make a lift to get hives on and off a truck or trailer?

I made my own, works like battery cabber. Can be a one or two person lift.
I use it to move hives on pallets so to fill in any empty pockets.
It grabbes on the cleat or hand hole.Fast and it can be used with one person, which is important when you have a one man band.:)

[BerkeyDavid]

I moved 8 hives Tuesday night, no problems. I have them on pallets and built a fork lift for my front end loader. Strapped them down the night before.

Started loading them just after sunset when it was still light but the bees had stopped flying. I lightly smoked them first then drove them onto the trailer. Some of them were really heavy. They were 5 - 6 mediums high. Almost ready to harvest again but the berry farmer wanted them out of there.

Then once I had them on the trailer I smoked them heavy and drove them away. This is the way to go. If I had to lift them each I never would do it.

These are the gentlest bees I ever saw. I didn't even get a head butt, although I had my suit on.

I had to move them to a holding yard 2 miles away because my home yard is only about 3/4 of a mile away from the berry patch. So they are still on the trailer. But I will bring them home next week and unload them in the home place.

[Tia]

I will never again move bees at night! I'd rather have them flying and headbutting me than sneaking in every crack, crevice and other miniscule opening! I think jlyon's got the idea. . .no veil would probably be better. . .I've had bees get in my veil at night and actually crawl into my ear!!!!!

[stingmaster]

I moved 10 hives one night- worst night of my life. I will NEVER do that again.
The next time I had to move them, I went to the GoodWill store and bought a ton of cheap, used bed sheets. At near sunset, I took each hive apart, one box at a time, layed a sheet on the bed of my trailer, wrapped each box in a sheet, duct taped it shut and and left them untill sunrise the next a.m.
I then drove to their new location, opened a corner of the sheet, a few puffs of smoke and reassembled the hives. Worked like a charm. Not one sting, as opposed to about 200 stings the time prior.
Trying to work in the dark with thousands of bees crawling on you, finding every possible nook and cranny to nail you- just a bad, bad thing.
Anyway, pack em' up at sunset, unpack them at sunrise....much, much easier.

[dickm]

>>>>Trying to work in the dark with thousands of bees crawling on you,....<<<<

I helped move several hundred hives this spring. I found that a lot of beekeeping is done in the dark. You can't close in that many hives and if you move them any other time the foragers will be lost. Of course they were on pallets and we used a loader. This is more challanging in the dark. (Keep an eye out for "Sunset Splits" in Bee Culture).

dickm

[GaSteve]

Thanks for the info. I suppose something like this would work for a lift. Slow but cheap.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_74569_74569

It states a 1000 lb capacity meaning you could even use it for a barrel of honey or syrup, but it doesn't look that stout.

If I do much more moving at night, maybe a suit like this would work better.

http://www.beeworks.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_14&products_id=48

It looks like the screened material is stiff around the neck to keep it off the skin.

[honeyman46408]

Thanks for the info. I suppose something like this would work for a lift. Slow but cheap.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_74569_74569

It states a 1000 lb capacity meaning you could even use it for a barrel of honey or syrup, but it doesn't look that stout.

If I do much more moving at night, maybe a suit like this would work better.

http://www.beeworks.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_14&products_id=48

It looks like the screened material is stiff around the neck to keep it off the skin.

Works for me

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c277/honeyman46408/HillBillyHiveLoader-1.jpg?t=1187458840

[Chef Isaac]

How does it grab on to the hive so you can lift it?

I am always looking for ways to do things easier since I am am a one man show. When I had to move bees a few weeks back, it KILLED my back.

I did move them ast night and with smoke, it went really well.

[honeyman46408]

How does it grab on to the hive so you can lift it?

I am always looking for ways to do things easier since I am am a one man show. When I had to move bees a few weeks back, it KILLED my back.

I did move them ast night and with smoke, it went really well.

Rachet strap around the hive then hook the strap and lift.

[Chef Isaac]

You find it faster?

[honeyman46408]

You find it faster?

I find it easy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Chef Isaac]

I need something. After this last move, it really killed my back and I am not looking forward to the move back in September.

Do you find any negative aspects to it Honeyman?