# Beehive moving device



## bee keeper chef (Nov 1, 2015)

This is what I use It has air tires and will go over uneven ground was not that expensive I move hives by myself a lot this thing saves me a lot of back aches. It lifts them high enough to go in the back of a trailer or pick up


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## Greeny (Jun 27, 2016)

I had to move hives for maintenance of my house, and just double ratchet strapped everything together, with one strap around the sides, and one strap on the front/back. Locked them inside after dark with screen, and moved them on a furniture dolly.

This guy has a pretty slick tool, and fairly easy to build your own.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hctNLQ8fI3Q


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## Cleo C. Hogan Jr (Feb 27, 2010)

Greeny said:


> This guy has a pretty slick tool, and fairly easy to build your own.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hctNLQ8fI3Q


Kelly Bee Company sells a two man hive carrier very similar to the one in the video. I bought one about 20 years ago. Carrier is listed on page 33, top right of page, sells for $59.95. Kelly's has a cleat that goes in the hand hold on the bottom box. Handles for two men. Works great. I have used mine a lot over the years.

cchoganjr


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## psm1212 (Feb 9, 2016)

Cleo C. Hogan Jr said:


> Kelly Bee Company sells a two man hive carrier very similar to the one in the video. I bought one about 20 years ago. Carrier is listed on page 33, top right of page, sells for $59.95. Kelly's has a cleat that goes in the hand hold on the bottom box. Handles for two men. Works great. I have used mine a lot over the years. cchoganjr


I just bought one of these last weekend. I have used it moving three hives. Worked great.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>I can't park my car too close to it due to trees in the way. 

A pretty good indication that it's not a good place to put hives...

I use several different carts. The one that can handle the most weight would be the Kelley "nose truck".

http://bushfarms.com/beescarts.htm


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## bevy's honeybees (Apr 21, 2011)

At one of my small yards I was asked to move 5 hives to the other side of the property. 

After survey and a lot of thought plus I wanted to do it on my own, I ended up using a large wheelbarrow that was on the property. I first set up the new site with cinder blocks (my usual hive stand). Then I put a moving screen at the bottom of the wheelbarrow and loaded top two supers with lid (or whatever I thought I could move easily) and took to new spot. Placed them on the ground and went back for deep, which I had put on another lid and closed the front. Moved the deep, placed on stand and then reassembled in order. Grass in front of entrance. I moved 2 hives the first day and 2 the next---very hot South Florida day and it was a distance of about 230 yards. And I'm no spring chicken, someone stronger could do it much faster. I have one left to do this week.

I also have a 2 person carrier and have used it many times for shorter moves, with the help of my sweetie. 
If I had to do this more often I would get a Kelley nose truck.


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## becsbeehive (Oct 29, 2016)

where did you get that? or did you build it?


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## becsbeehive (Oct 29, 2016)

bee keeper chef said:


> View attachment 35262
> View attachment 35263
> This is what I use It has air tires and will go over uneven ground was not that expensive I move hives by myself a lot this thing saves me a lot of back aches. It lifts them high enough to go in the back of a trailer or pick up


where did you get that? or did you build it?


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## Eikel (Mar 12, 2014)

It's common term is a cherry picker, aka engine lift for pulling engines out of vehicles; not sure what the common tool is in your neck of the woods but talk with a local mechanic.


As Greeny previously mentioned, ratchet straps and an adequate dolly with pneumatic tires (the cheap ones will hurt you); moving by hand over uneven or soft ground can be difficult no mater what you use. As Michael Bush mentioned, if you can't get a vehicle to the site it may not be the best place for hives; moving honey supers out won't be any easier next year but you will have more company on that trip.


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## bee keeper chef (Nov 1, 2015)

I got it from Harbor freight I changed the tires to air filled tires. It is a 1 to shop crane if you have a Harbor freight close to you it will save a lot on shipping if you can pick it up that is what I did I use it for a lot mare than lifting hives


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## Live Oak (Oct 11, 2008)

Due to a very serious arm injury I got one of these:

http://www.hivelifter.com/

http://www.kaptarlift.hu/

If you use Google Chrome, you can translate the Hungarian web page. 

I got the manual tall lifter.

No, they are NOT cheap but neither was my arm injury. I am still recovering from arm surgery and have not assembled it yet but will post my thoughts about it when I do. A one armed beekeeper is worth about as much as a swarm in October.  I will be taking it easy on the lifting in the future. Strangely enough the injury happened while re-positioning some empty oblong card board boxes. Go figure. :scratch: Gettin' old is NOT for sissies. :lpf:


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## kaizen (Mar 20, 2015)

simple d handle dolly with off road tires. ratchet the hive together both ways as described above and then strap to the dolly. If the size is too much i'd separate it during the day and move it half at a time. for one hive really doesn't pay to get a gizmo.


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## appalachianoutdoors (May 16, 2015)

How about finding someone with a small tractor and front loader?


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## DavidZ (Apr 9, 2016)

kaizen said:


> simple d handle dolly with off road tires. ratchet the hive together both ways as described above and then strap to the dolly. If the size is too much i'd separate it during the day and move it half at a time. for one hive really doesn't pay to get a gizmo.


This is how I did it last season, a long walk, and pull to the yard, I used my 4x8 trailer to pull them into the storage yard last week. a dolly works good on flat surfaces, if you have any bumps in the grass/dirt it's a pain to move the weight from a dead stand in a divet or over a hump.


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## bbcsleeper (May 27, 2015)

bee keeper chef said:


> View attachment 35262
> View attachment 35263
> This is what I use It has air tires and will go over uneven ground was not that expensive I move hives by myself a lot this thing saves me a lot of back aches. It lifts them high enough to go in the back of a trailer or pick up


Bee keeper chef, did you make this device? Or buy it made? 
Thanks, BC


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## aran (May 20, 2015)

Live Oak said:


> Due to a very serious arm injury I got one of these:
> 
> http://www.hivelifter.com/
> 
> ...


ive had spine surgery and find lifting the boxes darn hard too. How much are the kaptarlift gadgets? The electric one looks awesome.


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## Saltybee (Feb 9, 2012)

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gorilla-Carts-400-lb-Steel-Utility-Cart-GOR400/206998666

Divide and conquer.
One hive; nuc box and many trips .


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## bbcsleeper (May 27, 2015)

aran said:


> ive had spine surgery and find lifting the boxes darn hard too. How much are the kaptarlift gadgets? The electric one looks awesome.


Thanks for the info. If you’re a hobbiest beekeeper, it’s hard to justify the expense of these devices. Making them is not a option unless you have the skills/knowledge to do that sort of thing. 
It’s physically hard lifting without 2 people for me anyway. 

bbc


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## mcr (May 5, 2018)

I have used a Harbor Freight steel wagon that I changed to non pneumatic tires ( no flats). The sides fold down or remove them. It will hold two boxes side by side. Rachet straps to hold them together and on the wagon. use the wagon to carry tools wire ect also. Just not bee keeping.


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## grozzie2 (Jun 3, 2011)

When we first started keeping bees, wife and I would occaisionally move a couple colonies, we bought a gadget similar to this, most bee supply places will have one.

http://www.beekeepersfriend.com/2007/09/10/2-person-hive-lifter/

As we expanded, I wanted something that would take the heavy lifting out of a honey pull, and allow me to move hives on/off the truck by myself. I bought this one last year

https://www.beebreedingcentre.com/shop

First time we used that last fall was picking up hives in the fireweed fields to bring home. My wife took a video. I'm a bit awkward using it in that shot, it was the first time to pick up a hive and put it on the truck. Does take a little bit to get used to it, but with that I can do most of the heavy lifting around beekeeping by simply pushing the up/down button on the handles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTIPPQrQTpg


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## tnnewbe (Mar 21, 2010)

bee keeper chef:
What size tires did you use for the lifter? 8" or 10"
Ken


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## Live Oak (Oct 11, 2008)

aran said:


> ive had spine surgery and find lifting the boxes darn hard too. How much are the kaptarlift gadgets? The electric one looks awesome.


Guess I missed this post. Sorry about the late reply. Since I have posted about my Kaptarlift, I emailed Lajos (the owner of the factory that makes them) and asked about upgrading to a chain drive in place of the cable used to lift the hive clamp carriage. He sent me one of the first ones he developed and just charged me the shipping. The problem is that air freight shipping is VERY expensive but the cost of ocean shipping is much cheaper and in the $400 range, maybe less. The actual lift costs about $900 at least at the time I shipped the latest Kaptarlift but the exchange rate varies. I can say that the new, upgraded Kaptarlift is made VERY well and no corners were cut on the quality and workmanship. These are probably not economical for beekeepers with a few hives to 20 or 30 but if you have to lift hundreds of honey supers to harvest or treat with OAV and slip in a sheet of newspaper or a plastic sheet, the Kaptarlift works great and the cost is justified in my opinion. NONE of the good quality hive lift options are cheap. The Ezy Lift you can expect to lay out $30K plus. 

The electric version of the Kaptarlift is very expensive, like in the $4,000 range plus shipping. I prefer the manual versions as the lift will set unused for half the year which is hard on batteries and lithium ion batteries are NOT cheap to replace. 

If you are interested, email Lajos on the website. Lajos speaks and writes English. He can answer any other questions you may have better than I.


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## Livingthedeam (10 mo ago)

bee keeper chef said:


> View attachment 35262
> View attachment 35263
> This is what I use It has air tires and will go over uneven ground was not that expensive I move hives by myself a lot this thing saves me a lot of back aches. It lifts them high enough to go in the back of a trailer or pick up


Are you just using a ratchet strap around the hive? I just bought the same type of crane today.


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