# Cut out but want the bees to stay.



## Fishmaster50 (Apr 30, 2015)

I have a cut out to do in the spring. Tearing down the house wanted me to do it now but talked them into spring if they wanted them to make it with better chances. They want me to keep the hive on property but I am concerned that once I cut them out of house and move the hive a short distant are they going to go back to original home? Or should I move them out to a place 5 miles away for a couple weeks then move them back? It's all close to where I live so moving them isn't a big deal. Thanks


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## texanbelchers (Aug 4, 2014)

Move them 5 miles. The cleanup workers will appreciate it. Then move them back later.


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## enjambres (Jun 30, 2013)

I had my first bees cut out of the walls of a barn on my farm. 

After they were hived the boxes were hoisted back up to the place where the bees had been (walls were left open after the cut out).

And the bees promptly left the boxes and returned to the open walls. It took nearly two weeks of repeated re-hivings before the bees stayed put. I don't think anything I did made that happen - I think they just got tired of the game.

But then I had to get them down from their hanging positions, on to platforms of varying heights. And then when that was finally accomplished I had to move them to their permanent site about 750 feet away. 

My bees were hived on June 23rd and the final move happened on December 6th. The period between was a nightmarish blur when I was trying desperately to get them squared away while making every single mistake a clueless new beekeeper can do, at least twice.

I knew nothing about bees when I started so I didn't realize how much harder it was making my life by keeping the bees at my place immediately after they were hived.

My advice: hive them, _move them away for a good month_, then move them back to their permanent yard. Yes, moving is always hard on bees, especially in warm weather when you will have trouble getting all the bees into the hive in advance of the move. But it's easier and better in the long run. And you can use Michael Bush's left-behind box technique to try and collect the errant ones that don't make it on the first lift, if you are a softy like me.

Enj.


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## jredburn (Feb 25, 2012)

I've done a little over 150 removals this year and I have found that moving bees and getting them to stay put can be difficult.  One way that works well is to start the removal about two hours before sundown. By the time you have cut out the comb and stuck it in frames, moved the honey to a separate box, scooped up all the lose bees, put most equipment away etc it is going on dark. All of the foragers will be in and clustered up in bunches. Spray them with sugar water to keep them from flying, scoop them up with a paper cup and dump them into the box. Close it up and up move them wherever you want them to stay. When they come out in the morning they will reset their GPS and use that as their home base.


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