Moving bees in winter.

[Neils]

Ok, so I'm lying on my sunbed in a bikini down here in the balmy southern climes.

I've just inherited some bees, owner would like me to move them next week.

Is this actually a good idea? It will involve shoving them into the car and moving them 20 miles or so.

General moving procedure I'm fine with, but is the time of year something I should be considering? My thought is that they're possibly better left for another month. Hive is strong and has plenty of food.

[Jon]

Wont be a problem for a 20 mile move. leave the entrance closed for half an hour after relocation so that they settle down and don't spill out into the cold.

[Poly Hive]

Agreed, not a problem. Just make sure the hive is well secured and there are no pop holes to catch you out. It pays to drive with your veil thrown back, just in case.

PH

[drumgerry]

....plus use the spanset straps if you have them - much better than ratchet straps imho. I think PH has a vid on them on Youtube if you're not familiar.

[prakel]

Without diverting Neils thread too far, does anyone know of a source out side of the normal beekeeping suppliers that offer a competitive price on the spansets?

[Poly Hive]

I buy mine form Spanset.

PH

[prakel]

Ahh... neat solution :)!!

[Williamtyrone]

GUL (as in GUL wetsuits) make a nice set of straps for strapping gear to car roof racks. They do 3m and 5m set and
are good quality and have never failed me for my surf board. I've had them for years and they're regularly exposed to salt water.
They are not the ratchet type of strap and range form £15 to £25 a pair,
Just another option for you to consider.

By the way, I am not suggesting you transport your hive on a roof rack!!!

[Poly Hive]

Spansets are somewhere in the £4 to £5 pound range or my last ones were.

PH

[Neils]

Cheers for tips, landie does have loops for straps so they'll be nice and secure.

Always find a roll of duct tape is a handy thing to have when moving hives.

[gavin]

Cheers for tips, landie does have loops for straps so they'll be nice and secure.

Always find a roll of duct tape is a handy thing to have when moving hives.

The other thing of course is to sell the Landie and buy something with better suspension ;) (knew that would go down well ... )

During their winter sale (too late!) Thorne straps were at bargain prices:

Economy Hive Strap 1.50

Standard hive strap 2.00

Ratchet hive strap 3.00

I prefer ratchet to spanset (just one of those things) and think that they were £2.50 in Lidl some months ago. Nice, non-rusting ones compared to an earlier B&Q purchase which have since required to be cut off when they seized. I leave mine on where there are livestock, or exposed sites. Last year cattle took a dislike to an apiary and kicked them over. Bees were fine.

Spansets are OK but it is simpler to get the desired force with a ratchet, and despite their simple manufacture spansets are more expensive.

[Neils]

I'm choosing to ignore your comment.

After the move last year I do at least have plenty of straps to hand.

[Calum]

hi
if you are transporting them in the car, I'd keep the temperature in the car low, so they stay in their winter huddle.
If they are strong and feel the warmth, they may well be wanting out for a poo - not sure if warming them up would loose the bowels...
Better safe than sorry

[Poly Hive]

Spansets are a bit more expensive yes. BUT

Over time I suspect strongly that the Spanset will out last the ratchet by a factor or three as the ratchet depends on a pretty thin pin. Further the spanset will always give considerable tension and again over time the ratchet strap will polish and begin to slip.

Worked with five and ten tonne ratchets over many years in extreme conditions and am very well acquainted with their issues.

Spansets are simple and pretty much bomb proof, and remember if it is going to fail it will do so at the most inopportune moment. I have not had a Spanset fail yet in some "cough" 30 odd years. Each to their own but I prefer things that work time after time with no moving parts preferably. Less to go wrong.

PH

[mbc]

Spansets are a bit more expensive yes. BUT

Over time I suspect strongly that the Spanset will out last the ratchet by a factor or three as the ratchet depends on a pretty thin pin. Further the spanset will always give considerable tension and again over time the ratchet strap will polish and begin to slip.

Worked with five and ten tonne ratchets over many years in extreme conditions and am very well acquainted with their issues.

Spansets are simple and pretty much bomb proof, and remember if it is going to fail it will do so at the most inopportune moment. I have not had a Spanset fail yet in some "cough" 30 odd years. Each to their own but I prefer things that work time after time with no moving parts preferably. Less to go wrong.

PH

I agree spanset straps are far, far superior to ratchet straps for moving bees.
Well, actually, both have their place, spansets for keeping the boxes of individual hives together and ratchets for keeping lots of hives on the trailer.
The tension achievable with a standard spanset would need a ratchet strap with two inch webbing to achieve. I remember one of my first days working for a friend shifting hives to the heather and him checking each strap and redoing those that went "twang" until they went "ping" when plucked, seriously tight!

[drumgerry]

If moving polyhives a little section of angle iron where the straps touch the edges of the box will avoid said edges getting crushed. On the choice of strap I have had so many issues with ratchet straps over the years I'd never use them again. I also had a few of the Thornes economy straps and you only have to look at them and they break. Spansets from Thornes are £6 at the moment (their standard hive strap) and you'll never have to buy again if you get them. Having said that I have a couple of Thule straps from a roof rack and they are a similar design to the Thornes economy but are so much better made. I've successfully moved lots of bees using them over the years with only a single ping to the left ear at 60mph!

[Poly Hive]

When the npoly is crushed for the first time that is as bad as it gets. It never in my experience gets worse.

One thing against ratchets which I forgot is space.

Assuming your trailer is made neat for your hive shape then the Spanset sits flat on the hive roof. Where does the ratchet sit? The mechanism is in the way where ever you have it unless you turn the hive upside down and have it under the floor, assuming the floor is deep enough. No ta.

PH

[gavin]

There's always a solution. Stout ply travelling screens with mesh over a large central hole on top of Swienties (with roofs laid aside) mean you can ratchet as far as mbc's 'ping' for travelling (that pressure would mess with the structure unless you used Drumgerry's ironmongery) then put the roof back on when you get there. The ratchet was then on the side of the hive and there was no problem with that as there was enough space in the vehicle (the ratchet only protrudes about an inch). The roof (plus stone) went on top of the travel screen and strap once unloaded and for the duration of the trip to the heather. No issues with propolis yet, but if there were I'd be tempted to ping off the screen later, freeze it, and recover the propolis. With wood I've done various things but usually once the hives are on site loosen the strap to replace travel screen with crownboard and roof (otherwise the ventilation would be excessive), then re-tighten the strap over the roof. Again ratchets to the side mean no issues with stacking.

My preference for 'pings' rather than 'twangs' probably traces back to early hive-moving experiences with rope :).

[gavin]

Bear in mind I'm talking about moves in summer and autumn. The thread was originally about winter moves when the bees are quiet. No need for ventilation with a small, quiet cluster on a cold day.

[Silvbee]

Hi all,
This is a timely topic as it looks like I'll have to move my bees soon to accommodate another beekeeper moving onto the site. The new site is about 300m away and I've a feeling it won't be completed till early march. My worry is that this early in the season any bees that drift back could have a big impact on spring survivability. Any ideas? I don't have another site to move to first unfortunately.

[Jon]

You could move them to another site 3 miles away for a month or so then move them back to the site 300m away. You will definitely lose some of the flying bees with a 300m move in March.

[Calum]

So long as it is so cold , no problem. After 3 days of not flying their navigation seems to be reset.
Or if they are flying obstructing the entrance with a leafy branch works well for me when moving them less than 3 m.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bryden.mckinnie]

I just bought 10 heavy duty 5m endless ratchet straps on eBay for £2.80 each. Put them on my hives today. Moved a hive last week. I've got Varroa floors so happily ventilated. Took the roof off, put foam into the entrance hole put 2 straps round the hive plus an anchor strap in the boot. As mentioned had my suit on. One bee got out but just stayed at the window

[Pete L]

As mentioned had my suit on. One bee got out but just stayed at the window

How did one bee get out?

[gavin]

One of my areas of expertise, having bees loose in the car for 101 reasons. The odd one or two (or ten) on the loose were probably lurking under the mesh floor when the time came to shut them in. Leaky boxes, forgetting to nail down the Swienty mesh square, not putting the foam in properly, poorly maintained heather floors, and, of course, wholesale slipping of boxes back in the days before ratchet straps.

[Black Comb]

I always seem to bleed a few bees when moving.
They congregate on the rear window and don't bother me as we move along, but traffic light stops can be interesting.
Nowadays I wrap the whole lot in a large mosquito net I bought on special offer at Millets. It covers 3 hives.
It means the bees that always seem to be under the floor are confined.

[bryden.mckinnie]

Peter, I had candy on the Crown board and forgot to tape it down (after forgetting to remove it) so it moved a little and one got out. Gain thanks for that tip, will look under the mesh floor next time.

[Poly Hive]

I moved as an experiment a full colony last year 500m. As far as I know not a bee was lost. I moved them and leant a clearer board over the entrance so they "bumped their heids" on emerging. Worked a treat.

PH

[mbc]

I've lived with trucks full of bees for years, they're not a problem as the bees very soon become deprogrammed when they escape during transit or if they hitch a ride on equipment, they will only sting if you force them too by trapping them against your skin.