Moving bees where the sun never goes down.

[Honey-4-All]

Just got back from Fairbanks where we moved bees out of the spring yards down to the Fireweed fields last week. Fortunately it was raining when we loaded at 10:30 pm. With a healthy dose of smoke they stayed inside. Once we ripped the nets off two + hours later the ladies were ready to fly at 1 am as the rain had ceased in the new yard and it was light enough to get them pumped up to hit the flight deck.

Trying to move bees when it never gets dark is a bit difficult unless the rain is pouring. Considering the area gets only 12-13 inches each year in moisture (snow and rain) most years this move can be difficult. We have baked bees while attempting this moving process in the past (trying to keep them in).

I am looking for ideas on how we can move bees in these conditions without killing them or leaving half of them behind.

Temps are usually low 60's to mid 70's at "dusk" in the "evenings" at the end of June. Day time highs range from 50's through 80's.

Here are a couple of things that need to happen IMHO to make this work successfully.

1. Need to make a one way trap to get and keep the foragers in on the "evening" of the move.

2. Need adjustable ventilation /space so the enclosed bees neither bake nor chill brood during "capture" time and during the trip to the next yard.




I realize 99% of the beeks here have never encountered these conditions but enough have moved bees in warm conditions where they might be able give pertinent advice.

Any and all advice from equipment design all the way to moving tips would be appreciated.



What would you do in this situation?

[Charlie B]

That's a tough situation. I was thinking for the ventilation part of the problem you could make a screen top board in the same way you have SBB's. (I assume you're using Screen Bottom Boards for ventilation and mites). Use #8 hardware cloth top screen with a sliding solid "drawer" to adjust for temperature changes or rain.

The one way trap idea sounds like a good one but I have no clue how to make that in an entrance application.

Anybody?

[grozzie2]

What would you do in this situation?

I have pondered the same question, we dont live that far north at present, but, I'm born and raised far enough up, it doesn't get dark for 6 weeks in summer. Would like to get back some day, and, have contemplated how we could deal with moving bees out to an old burn, for a few weeks of 24x7 in the fireweed.

My solution would be to try the conical bee escape:-

http://www.beemaidbeestore.com/produ...&txtProdID=376

Mount a few on a stick that fills the entrance, put em on backwards so it becomes a 'trap' instead of an escape, and do a 'trap in'. Mount the new entrance accessory a bunch of hours before you plan to move, all the foragers should come back and go inside, and not get back out. When it's time to move, just pick up the hive and off you go. If it works out for the outbound move, should work equally well for the move back.

On the ventilation side of the equation, I have no clue, but will be reading this thread with great interest.

[Tom G. Laury]

Honey4, I have spent many summer weeks in Finland. They almost universally move their bees during the arctic summer night with one tons that have a tent top like nurseries use when delivering bedding plants. The interior is dimly lit but no direct light. Of course these are small loads by our standards.

[Roland]

What if you used the screen top and bottom Like CharlieB suggested, an old reefer trailer like Dean Lapp uses, and a straggler hive left behind to catch the field bees still out?

Crazy Roland

[hpm08161947]

Deleted.... Wrong thread. Mod please delete.

[beehive]

try this setup. it allows you to close the front door from leaving but has a notch up top that allows them to get in.

http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com...oductinfo/517/

[high rate of speed]

Why not try a cutain van bobtail.with a reefer unit mounted on the front.and replace the curtain tarps with bee nets.

[jim lyon]

If you can load them with temps in the 50's to 60's then I don't think I would worry about waiting for anything much better than that. I have to believe that there is some daily slow time in bee activity but then thats just a guess on my part. All in all those arent terrible conditions for a move, I would check through them a day or so ahead of time and find a few hives that could stand a boost and make a "game time" decision on whether there are enough bees in the air to justify leaving a few of them. For a 2 hour move a good truck net should work nicely providing that there is some provision for ventilation such as 1X2 or even 2x2 spacers. Use plenty of smoke before pulling the net at the other end, nothing meaner than bees that are fighting a screen. I have accepted long ago that when a lot of bees have to be moved that perfect bee moving conditions can be pretty elusive at times, its pretty easy to talk yourself out of it. Just go for it.....and make sure there is plenty of gas in your tank.

[jean-marc]

I agree with Jim on this one. For sure you don't lose half you bees even if you were to move in the middle of a heavy flow. Rain is good too, just like you did. There are times when you gotta do what you gotta do. Simple systems work best. The net is the simplest and fairly foolproof. They are easily removed if the truck breaksdown in the middle of a hot afternoon. Other systems that try to lock bees in a colony should be avoided in my opinion. To many things can go wrong.

Jean-Marc

[alpha6]

I met an old guy in Cusco, Peru who was the village shaman and claimed to be able to move the moon in front of the sun causing the land to fall into darkness...I think he was charging about 10 bucks and you had to kill a chicken or goat...maybe you could take him with you the next time you move bees.

[Smiley]

We use the Florida Moving Screens like are in Brushy Mountain catalog all the time to move 30-40 hives during afternoons in Florida. They work great and are easy to build using #8 wire. We put them on and wait a hour and load them up.

[Tom G. Laury]

Or why not just put your bees where the Sun don't shine.

Ha ha sorry I couldn't resist.