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Moving bees at night - should I open entrance at night or wait til morning?

7K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  PatBeek 
#1 · (Edited)
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I have a top-bar trap-out I'm presently doing of which I plan on moving the bees back to my place in the late-evening to make sure all of them are inside.

Should I take the cover off the entrance at night or wait until the morning?

Well here's my dilemma.............I'm out-of-town working on a major project for several months and I can't craft a nice screen cover for the entrance
and just tape it on, take the hive, then remove the screen in the morning. I may have to have my wife go pick them up and just place a strip of duct tape over the entrance (three small holes) and either leave them sealed-up overnight or have her take the tape off when she gets them home with it dark outside.

My concern is that if she leaves an unventilated piece of duct tape on the entrance over night they could possibly get too hot or not enough air, etc.

My concern with taking the tape off at night would be they'd be freaked-out from the move and go out into the night and not find their way home? I'm sure the bees would rather become familar with new surroundings during the day than the night.

Any thoughts?

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AFTER:



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#3 ·
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Really? Are you saying my wife could grab the hive and place it in her car trunk and take it to our back yard and the bees will not fly out at night at all, even while being moved?

Admittedly I'm somewhat of a newb, but I find it hard to believe they'd stay put under those circumstances - but hey - I could be very wrong. But I would at least have her tape the entrance and then just remove the tape once home.

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#7 ·
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Really? Are you saying my wife could grab the hive and place it in her car trunk and take it to our back yard and the bees will not fly out at night at all, even while being moved?

Admittedly I'm somewhat of a newb, but I find it hard to believe they'd stay put under those circumstances - but hey - I could be very wrong. But I would at least have her tape the entrance and then just remove the tape once home.

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How long have youy been married? How much longer do you wish to stay married? Is your wife an experienced beekeeper? NO!! Do not have your wife put a beehive in the back of her car and expect the bees to stay inside. Not in FL. Bees crawl and bees fly even in what we think is darkness.

If you transport that thing in the trunk of a car expect the trunk to be full of bees by the time you get it home. You will have to vacuum bees out of every nook and cranny after you have taken the hive out and set it in your yard.

If you have use of a pickup truck that's what I would recommend. An open pickup truck.
 
#4 ·
they might crawl out of the box in her trunk, yes, but for the most part they will stay close to the hive entrance, and might beard so you will have bees in the trunk, so Id use a truck.
but they will not fly out while being moved. I move hundreds no entrance covering. Actually entrance coverings just piss them off so they cant ventilate and then they will find every hole they can and beard out. You will have more of a mess in your trunk if you cover the entrance. unless you have a bee tight box, ha ahhh
 
#5 · (Edited)
They'll come out at night if you pick up the hive and move it around. You need to block it off during the move. Place the hive, give it 5 minutes then take the tape off or whatever you use and run like mad to your car. If you're really well practiced, you can grab the entrance blocking device as you're running and screaming like a little girl..... Just make sure your car door is already open and ready to receive you and your windows are up so when you shut the door as you're jumping in any bees that might've taken flight are where they're supposed to be... not in ur car with you. In all honestly though, if the move wasn't too bad, no bees should come flying out at night when you remove the screen unless you banged it around a lot.
 
#6 ·
I moved my hive about three weeks ago, approximately 60 miles. I duct taped a piece of cardboard over the entrance and did not remove it until the next morning. When I got the hive back to my house after the move, I could hear the whole group of bees sounding pretty mad inside, so I figured the smart idea was to place them in their new spot, let them mellow out over night, and introduce them (open the entrance) to their new home in the morning. I had no problems, and they seem to be doing great now that they are in my backyard.
 
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