Starting Over

[East Texas Pine Rooter]

I was given a hive from a friend who thought he would like to be a bee keeper, but changed his mind. I got pkg. bees threw the mail, a new hive box, smoker etc. I moved after 2-years, the bees abscam, and that was the end of that. Now 12-years later another friend has some bees in a hive box on some rural land he bought, and he wants rid of them. I was going to move them to my rural land. I never have opened up this hive to see just what I have. I tried to close the hive entrance using a board with a portable drill, well that was a catrophy. I am going back on a clear night and nail the entrance shut with pre drilled nail holes, nails in place. Question: Can i just open the hive box, find the queen, kill her, and insert a new queen in a cage box with candy stopper.

[loggermike]

You can ,but its not 100% sure,but feeding or doing it when there is nectar coming in improves the odds.The queen in the hive may be ok.
As for moving ,we never close the entrance, and move at night.But you have to smoke them good first.If you must close it,use a piece of folded screen wire tucked in so they dont suffocate.Bees will panic when the entrance is closed causing heat buildup.

[Michael Bush]

>I tried to close the hive entrance using a board with a portable drill, well that was a catrophy.

With screws? I'm not sure how you use a board with a portable drill. I always just close it up with a pice of 1/8" hardware cloth cut to fit the width of the opening and bent at 90 degrees and stapled on.

Be sure you have the hive all connected together with something. A on by of some kind nailed into each part going up each corner is very solid. A scrap of plywood nailed at each connection at each corner is fine. Those 2" wide staples they sell to put hives together or ok. A strap is nice in addition to hold it all together.

>I am going back on a clear night and nail the entrance shut with pre drilled nail holes, nails in place.

The staples will upset them less and, as loggermike says, the 1/8" screen will let them breathe.

>Question: Can i just open the hive box, find the queen, kill her, and insert a new queen in a cage box with candy stopper.

Why? Do you have some reason to want to requeen? Are they vicious bees? Are they surviving the mites without treatments? I consider bees that are surviving to be a valuable asset.

But, yes, you can requeen using that method.

If you just think it's an old queen, why not remove the old one and a couple of frames of brood and put them in another box and let the old hive raise a new queen. Then, if they fail you can put the old queen back, or if they succeed you have a nuc or a second hive with some resources for problems later on.

Actually, here's how I move a hive:

You need to anchor the hive together for the trip and you need to load it. Since I am usually doing this by myself I will give instructions from that view.

I do this when the bees are flying. First I put my transportation as close as I can get to the hive. Directly behind it is best. I have a small trailer I often use, but a pickup would work too. I put a bottom board in the trailer where I think I want the hive to be. I put a strap under it so I can strap the hive together. You can buy small ones at the hardware store but they also sell them at bee supply places. I stack the boxes on the bottom board as I take them off. This leaves the hive in reverse order which will get reversed back when we unload. After all the boxes are on you need to nail all of the boxes together somehow. They sell 2” wide staples that can be used, or you can cut small (2 ½”) squares of plywood and nail it between the parts of the hive to attach it all together. Cut a piece of #8 hardware cloth the length of the entrance and fold it into a 90 degree. It should fit tight enough to keep the bees in. Leave the entrance open until you are ready to leave.

Strap it together tightly and tie it anyway you need to or wedge it with empty bee boxes so that the hive canÂ’t shift or tip over on a curve or a sudden stop.

Next, you need to take into account your situation. If you have other hives at this location and the hive you are moving could lose a few foragers without hurting it much, just close it up and go. The returning foragers will find another hive. If this is your only hive or you are really concerned about losing foragers, then wait for dark and then close it up and go.

When you get to the new location, if itÂ’s already daylight, just unload the hive by putting a bottom board on the new location, removing the staples or plywood and stacking the boxes off onto it. If itÂ’s dark, wait for daylight and do the same thing.

Put a branch in front of the entrance so any bee leaving notices it. A green sapling with some leaves is nice so they have to fly through the middle of it. It causes them to stop and pay attention and reorient.

[Oxankle]

You can move your bees very simply, the method depending upon how big and heavy the job is.

First, close the hive with screen or 1/8 hardware cloth as advised. If it is really hot and you have to leave the bees closed all day, put on a screened top before you strap everything tight. Do this at dusk or after dark to get all the bees inside. If you work calmly and quickly you will get all the bees and not even excite them.

If it is only a hive body and one or two supers, been sitting a while, it is glued together pretty well with propolis. In this case get one of the ratchet straps (*or two if you are nervous) that are used to tie down ATV's etc. The kind that are an inch wide and about 8 feet long are fine. Put this around the hive, top and bottom and strap it down TIGHT.

Now, if you can, just lift the hive and set it in the back of your truck or on your trailer and tie it down so that it does not bounce around. Another strap is just the ticket for this. I have moved many hives, but since obtaining the ratchet straps I have never punched another nail hole in a box.

If the hive is too heavy to lift get a friend to help or use a couple of planks for a ramp and slide the hive up into your vehicle. A little crisco on the ramps helps. You can do the ramp thing with even a large stack of supers, but you will have to have a friend to steady the stack while you pull the hive up the ramp with a rope. If the stack is that high you are better off moving it in sections.
Ox

[jfischer]

One thing that should be mentioned is
the need for ratchet-strapping around
both the width and LENGTH of the hive.

While there may be lots of propolis, and
the entire hive may move as one solid
unit when you lift it, somehow, these
propolis glue-joints have a habit of
giving way at exactly the wrong time.

[BULLSEYE BILL]

Keys to moving a hive for me are;

Ratchet straps.
I put a lot of effort into making my equipment, I am not going to punch holes in my stuff. Go to Sams's, and buy a couple of four packs of straps, cheap.

Screen wire.
Cut a piece of screen wire the length of the opening and fold it over and jam it into the opening, it will not come out until you pull it out.

Screen board.
If you have a SBB all you have to do is leave the tray out or if you don't, make some screens. I used the cutoff from cutting down deeps into mediums. I then stapled and glued furring onto the screen, basically just a solid screen top for ventilation.

I usually move hives by myself, up to two mediums I can lift into the back of the Durango. Anything bigger goes onto the lowboy trailor either with a winch/boom, or a two wheeler. It also does'nt hurt to have a sixteen year old boy around either.

[Michael Bush]

>somehow, these propolis glue-joints have a habit of giving way at exactly the wrong time.

They certainly do.

>it's also nice to have a sixteen year old boy around.

I think so too, but they all grew up.

My advice is, as I said, based on moving them by myself, which is usually the situation I'm in. Certainly it's nice if you can move it all together and leave it glued well.

I always nail it even with the strap because I've had them move even though they were strapped pretty tightly. Jim may be right about strapping in both directions. This is bound to help the problem.

I don't mind putting nail holes in. The bees need ventilation. Someday they bees will either fill it in or, after it rots for a few decades, use it for a top entrance.