# Can I relocate bees 0.8 mile 5/6 days after swarm



## Charlie B (May 20, 2011)

If they're going back to the hole in the house, the queen most likely is in there. You'll have to do a cutout to get her and the rest of them out. This involves cutting through siding or roofing structures to get at them. It can be a very complicated project depending upon where exactly the bees are in a particular structure. If you don't know how to do it then I would look at a local bee club for help. Most clubs usually have a couple of beekeepers who do cutouts.

I would be happy to do it for you if you paid all transportation cost!!! :thumbsup:


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## 100 td (Apr 3, 2011)

Charlie B said:


> I would be happy to do it for you if you paid all transportation cost!!! :thumbsup:


Mmmmm, thanks for the offer!

I think, (I mean hope), the queen is actually in the hive, will have to wait a few days to find out I guess.
The wall is brick so a cone trap would be the only way but I don't have and eggs/brood so will just have to sit and watch.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

I would put on the cone trap and leave the box the bees are in right below it. Maybe you do have her, who knows. If you do you will get them all. If you don't, you need to find a queen for them


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## hunter1 (May 22, 2010)

100td,
If you have bees in the box and the wall too, they are moving their stores to the box. My experence tells me the box would be empty if she was not there.
GOOD LUCK.


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## 100 td (Apr 3, 2011)

Queen must be in hive, only a very small swarm, probably 2 fistfuls or so, no more bees on the wall, (swarm had only been there for 5 days) have closed up the entrance very small (1 inch) but I think robbers are coming and going. I noticed drones going in while I was there today, I guess they are robbing as well.
I will have to move the hive or it will be robbed dry, maybe build a screen for the entrance.
They are building a bit of comb in between two frames of foundation, but I will have to live with that or I will loose them all. I would prefer to leave them in place for a few weeks, they owner wants them out but may be able to some more time.
What do you think about a move of 0.8 mile, they will probably go back?


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## Lost Bee (Oct 9, 2011)

I believe this was your original reason for this thread. 

This was all taken from an online source so I'm not taking 
credit for it. 

MOVING BEES A SHORT DISTANCE:

If you move bees more than 5-10 feet and less than 1 mile, the field bees
will return to their original site rather than to their new hive location. 
Bees orient to their hive by physical landmarks, not by some special radar. 
This can create problems for the colony that loses its field force and also
for the beekeeper. Family members and neighbors may not appreciate having 
a number of disoriented bees nearby. If you want to move a colony a short 
distance for example from one side of the yard to the other the move should 
be done a few feet at a time, with several days in between each leg of the 
journey.Alternately, move the colony at least 1 1/2 miles away for
a minimum of 10 days, then move it back to the new desired location. 

Some places I have read say move them up to 3 miles away.

Start from page 306 under Moving Bees in the following link from 
The ABC and XYZ of bee culture.

http://www.archive.org/stream/abcxyzofbeecultu00root#page/306/mode/2up

You can download the book here in many formats.

http://www.archive.org/details/abcxyzofbeecultu00root

This site has many old but good bee books. Just do a search on bees in the search bar
on top and set the filters to *all media *instead of *Biodiversity Heritage Library*.

Why reinvent the wheel?  

Do buy a few books to support the bee industry and it's researchers though.

Good Luck with your bee move.


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## delber (Dec 26, 2010)

Michael Bush has said that he moves hives 100 yards and has no problems. He places a board in front of the hive to "force" them to crawl over it to reorient and by the second day all is well. Another "trick" is to close them up for 1-2 days and when they come out again most of them if not all will reorient. I tried this however the thing I missed is the weather was too cold those days and they wouldn't have come out anyway. I did have an issue w/ about 500 bees or so from a small nuc (5 frame deep) that I moved went back to their old location. I did have an extra empty hive that I put up in the old hive location about an hour or two before dark and moved them after dark to the new location by pointing the hive directly at the other one. This worked and I saw a few bees after that fly to the old location only do realize and go right to the new location about 50 yards away.


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## 100 td (Apr 3, 2011)

Thanks to everyone who replied, I will check with the owner about attempting to relocate short distance, she wants them gone soon, she has been patient, I don't want them coming back to upset her.
Thanks to delber for Michael Bush's comments and to Lost Bee for a good online reading resource!
Checked on them today, they are building comb, 1/2 frame of capped brood, small bit of capped honey plus pollen and nectar. approx 5 frames drawn, queen is laying , BIG burr comb (second comb between frames, will deal with it later.


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