# Moving hives



## JSaar660 (Jan 17, 2013)

Hello, I have a question about moving hives. I recently moved and while mowing today a neighbor stopped by to introduce himself and he's looking to downsize the number of hives he has. My question is he only lives about a mile down the road. Is it possible to move bees from a location so close?


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Yes it is. Steps you take helps in the doing so. Start by closeing them up late in the evening when they are inside the hive. I load them in the truck the following morning and am not real gentil as I want them to know some thing is going on. Get them to the new site and set in place. If it is near home I will some times leave them closed up all day if it isn't to hot but most times the drop off site isn't near home so once in place I grab a hand full of grass. Quickly open the entrance and stuff the grass in the oipening which also lets them know some thing has changed. They will work their way out thru the grass and do an orentation flight.

I moved these several hundred yards. Note the grass stuffed in the entrances.



 Al


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## fatrat (Feb 21, 2009)

I agree with alleyyooper as I have also moved my bees that way. I was in a bee class and bee club where we were taught the old two miles or two feet rule. That old rule is just plain not true. 

YOU CAN EASILY AND SUCCESSFULLY MOVE YOUR BEES MORE THAN TWO FEET OR LESS THAN TWO MILES. I HAVE DONE IT. This year I moved two hives, one fifteen feet and another fifteen yards, no problems whatsoever! I waited until early morning so I knew all bees were inside, just as the sun was coming up. I closed up the hive and moved it, put a big bunch of grass and brush in front of the entrance so they had to kind of work to get out and then opened the hive. The idea is to make sure that they know something has changed drastically. They will reorient to the new location. You will have some bees maybe a hundred or a couple hundred going back to the old location the first day but when they find the hive missing they will backtrack and find their way to the new location. Each day fewer and fewer bees will go to the old location. Be patient in a few days everything will be fine and all the bees will know where home is. Each day I remove a little bit more of the grass and brush from the entrance until it is all gone in a few days and all bees are reoriented. It works and I can testify to it. 

Forget that old silly rule of two feet or two miles.


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## JSaar660 (Jan 17, 2013)

Thank you both for your insight and recommendations. Looks like I'll have a project for next weekend. Thank you again, Jason.


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## fatrat (Feb 21, 2009)

Just make sure all the bees are in the hive before shutting it up and make sure it is real obvious to them that something has changed big time. I have top bar hives and I actually use an arm full of grass and brush to block the entrance. When they come back to the hive they are looking for the pile of stuff in front of the entrance which I little by little remove over the following days. They can't miss the fact that something big has changed and they know they need to reorient their location. Alleyyooper's idea of locking them in the hive for a day is a good idea if they can still get air circulation. Maybe a screen over the entrance would be good. I've read of some people locking them in for three days but with the nectar flow in full sway I would hate for them to not be able to work for a few days.


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