Other Methods

If it is found inexpedient to cut out all combs, the beekeeper may "drum" out the bees as above, then remove the combs of the box hive entirely and dispose of them. This is a loss of good helpful brood, however. Or he may take this box hive without the bees and invert it immediately over the frames of the modern hive into which the bees have been transferred, first placing a queen excluder between the two so that the queen of the transferred colony cannot return to the old combs which she would be bound to prefer. Care must be taken in this method, to make all tight between the hive and the upper box, to avoid robbers and also avoid the possibility of the queen of the colony crawling up the outside of the hive and into the old box with its combs.

Instead of "drumming" the bees out, the box hive with both its cover and bottom removed may be placed over the new modern hive and the bees driven down with a cloth saturated with carbolic acid crystals which have been liquefied, and diluted in water, after which the excluder may be resorted to as explained previously. However, because carbolic acid is caustic and will bum flesh quickly, care must be taken when using it.

Log gums and bee trees do not lend themselves so readily to transferring, though the bees may be drummed out after a fashion, the log split in two and the combs removed much as is done with the box hive.

Transferring bees is generally a "messy" job, but we know of no better fashion for the beginner to get initiated into beekeeping than by transferring a colony of bees or two. However, both the labor and the possibility of queenless colonies as well as diseased ones being the subject of the transfer, it is likely that the beginner at least should be advised to start with new hives and packages of bees secured in the usual manner.

Moving Bees Short Distances

It may become advisable to change the position of your one or two colonies of bees, a few feet in your back yard. Do not do it all at once. Move the hive a few inches each day and the bees will pay little attention. In such a manner a colony may be completely turned around in a few weeks, without loss of field bees and without creating any commotion in the vicinity.

Moving Bees Longer Distances

For moves of longer distances, when the weather is not warm and the period of confinement of the bees not too long, the hives may be either closed or left open and picked up early on a cool morning, loaded on a truck and transported to the new location. For moves of very long distances, it is advisable to make special screen tops for colonies to be transported, to take the place of regular covers. Make the frame on which the screen is nailed two or three inches deep so there will be plenty of room for the bees of the colony to cluster if they get too warm on the frames in transportation. Unload as soon as destination has been reached.

It is always desirable either to have some breaks in the apiary site such as trees and shrubs, or lean a hive cover in front of the hives. Thus, the bees on leaving for their first flight in the new location will recognize that a change in location has been made. Such action is always especially important where the move has been less than two miles, for in such cases, many of the bees will return to their old location only to find it deserted. Oftentimes, when several colonies have been moved, it is a wise precaution to leave a hive or two in the old location, or at least an empty hive as a decoy to catch the bees which return. These may later be added to one of the colonies in the new location or if sufficient in numbers, may be treated as a swarm, given a hive with frames and foundation and a queen to start a colony of their own.

Colonies of bees are often moved several hundred miles. On the longer hauls, both top and bottom of the hives may be screened. It is desirable to leave plenty of room between the rows of hives on the truck or car, and particularly between the colonies themselves, so they may not suffocate and so they may be sprinkled with water at the opportune time.