2 questions

[lori]

Now that I am paying closer attention, I have realized that I didn't place the hive in the sunniest spot. (I'm in SW WA where we are lucky to see the 70's). There is no activity on the outside frames at all and I think it is perhaps because it is too cold. Is it a problem to move the hive approximately 8-10 feet? Or should I wait until winter.
Also, they are building lots of comb on top of the middle frames. Do I leave it alone or scrape it off? thanks in advance...Lori

[no1cowboy]

No problem moveing your hive, as for the burr comb you can scrape it off if you want to but the bees will just keep making it and no harm in leaving it bee.

[PCM]

Wait till evening block off entrance, move them, open entrance throw a few weeds, branches on/in front of the entrance something they have to crawl thru.

They will be confused and will go to the old spot, but will find their hive before long.

As far as the bridge comb, let it bee, till you get into moving the frames, then scrape it out, it might have some honey or brood but it goes.

You don't say how long you have had these hives , BUT it takes time !

The best advice I can give;
Visit your public library, they have or can get thru inter-library loan books on bee keeping, but first visit/join your local bee club. they probably have a member right in your neighbor hood.

And remember take all advice on inter-net boards with a grain or two of salt !

What works for me may not work for someone a thousand miles away !!

Good Luck
PCM

[Josh Carmack]

Move it one or two feet a day. I have a colony now, I have moved them 20 feet in the last week, and about 150 more to go. The only thing that really confuses them is when I park my pickup near them. When I removed the hive from the tree they were in I placed them in the bed of my truck and then I forgot about them. They sat in the back of the truck for two weeks. Now whenever I pull up in the yard thousands of them start to circle the spot in the back of the bed where they used to be.
PS i only drive this truck when I need to haul lumber or bees so it was easy to forget that I had them in there.

[Fuzzy]

I'd have to agree with Josh. I moved mine about 30 ft one foot at a time, just after dark. I lifted it up and slid a piece of plywood under it with a rope fastened to the front of the wood. Pull up a bit and slide nicely.

[alpha6]

You guys have to be joking...just move the hive in late evening when all the bees are back. They won't have a problem finding their hive the next day when they go out and return...one foot at a time... :doh: you guys are killing me. :lpf:

[Beaver Dam]

When I moved my hive, the foragers got lost and hovered in the old location. I felt sorry for them and moved the hive back. I then started the foot or two a day trick.

[BigDaddyDS]

I'm with Alpha6 on this one...

Toward dusk, when the field bees are back in for the night, move the hive to wherever you need it moved to. Then, if you so desire, you can place a branch with leaves in front of the entrance, or a clump of grass which will dry out and they'll move it out of the way. This will (supposedly) help them to realize that things have changed when they go out the door, and will cause them to take new orientation flights.

The 2 feet at a time thing? WAY too slow and time consuming. At worst, your field bees will fly around and wind up begging their way into the nearest hive once they realized home is gone. They WON'T wind up in a pile on the ground, in front of where the old hive was. They'll drift to some other hive somewhere nearby and convenient to the old hive.

DS

[Josh Carmack]

You can move them the entire distance at once. You will loose some foragers not a huge amount, and not really even enough to be able to tell the difference. It's all personal preference. I am laid off with nothing better to do, and I like to fool with my bees. Therefore I move mine about 4 to 6 feet per day. They do have a memory because as I stated earlier, they will pool up around the back left corner of my old pickup every time I park it close to where they sat for a couple of weeks. It's somewhat comical, I forget about it every time I pull into the yard where they are at. When i get ready to go I have a miniature swarm trying to find a non existent hive in the back of my truck.
OR you can move them a few miles away >3 wait a couple of days and move them back to where you want them. all in all you will lose foragers in small amounts with any method except the few feet a day. None of the amounts lost will be significant, and the queen can replace them in an hour.

[beedeetee]

I don't know where the two foot rule came from, but the circles they fly looking for their hive are probably 10-12 feet, so they will find their hive at 8-10 feet with out problem.

A lot of years we are lucky to see sun in our area (I am just up the Columbia from you) until the end of June making beekeeping a challenge. This year our weather has been perfect. Making bees has been simple.

When you say that you don't have bees on the outside frames, are you talking about just the outside frame on each side of each box? There will almost always be less bees there unless they are filling those with honey.

I don't have mine in complete sun. They all get a couple of hours of shade a day due to some random tree shade passing by.

[lori]

Ok - So I moved them this morning - we'll see how it goes. I put a little grass around the front in case it makes the move better - but felt a little silly doing it.
Yes, the frames on either end are completely empty - was I too hasty in putting on the second super?
Also - I switched to a top feeder since I had lost a lot of bees in the darn frame feeder. Not a very good design.
lots to learn.....