Are you moving a beehive a short distance. here is how we do it.

This article is for urban beekeepers who are moving bee hives a short distance on their property. Have you ever asked yourself “How fat can you move a beehive?”. We hope this article answers your questions.

A common Myth in Beekeeping is that “If you want to move Beehives you, have to move them 3 feet or 3 miles”..Find Out How Tweet

Which means that you can only move beehives 3 feet everyday, or move it 3 miles away and then leave it for a month then move to the new location on your property.

Moving Beehives a short distance

In the height of summer we often moving colonies all over our bee yard, we found this technique works well for moving bee hives a short distance.

Here are the steps

After sunset or when the bees have stopped flying, close up the hive. Put a strap around all the boxes, so they don’t come apart on the short trip. Setup the hive where you want it to be located, Open up the hive. Place an obstruction over the entrance of the hive. We find a leafy bush works well. Remove the obstruction after a couple of weeks.

Why this works

The obstruction in front of the hive forces the bees to re-orientate themselves to the new location. The tree or bush makes them think something has changed. This should prevent most of the worker bees from going back to the old location.

How To Move A Beehive a long distance

We also have an article about how we do this HERE.

Other Tips

Do this before a few days of rain, the longer the bees are stuck in the hive the better they re-orientate themselves. But don’t block the entrance.

Your Thoughts

Do you have any tips to add this article? Please comment below, what other things do you do when moving bee hives a short distance?