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A van full of bees!

The hive barrow (and Mark) in action

The new apiary site – work in progress

How do you move a honeybee colony?

Well with great care is the obvious response! Moving boxes each containing 10-15,000 stingy insects is a bit scary but if you plan ahead, and follow a few rules, it’s quite straight forward.

Move them a very little, so 3 feet or 3 miles away. Anything in between means they go back to the original hive location and get very confused.
Block the entrance with a bit of foam when the last foragers come home in the evening. Or get up very early before they start to fly so you don’t leave any bees behind.
Move them in winter/spring – it’s easier as the boxes aren’t so heavy with honey. Use good straps. That’s essential to keep the hive parts together – you don’t want bees escaping!
Ideally secure the hives so they don’t slide around or tip over in your car or van.
Where possible face the hive boxes with the frames in the direction of travel so they don’t rattle so much.
When on the move ensure the bees have lots of ventilation so they don’t overheat. I’ve raised the boxes on a pallet.
If you have to carry the hives a fair distance borrow a hive barrow – it’s a brilliant bit of kit.
Most importantly enlist the help of a friend or two.

This week we moved four of our honeybee colonies to a new home at a local golf course. The photo shows the beautiful new apiary site. There are lots of mature trees and shrubs nearby so I’m hoping they will thrive there and produce some totally tasty honey.

Luckily the move went smoothly and neither the bees or the beekeepers were harmed in the move 😊.

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A van full of bees!

The hive barrow (and Mark) in action

The new apiary site – work in progress

How do you move a honeybee colony?

Well with great care is the obvious response! Moving boxes each containing 10-15,000 stingy insects is a bit scary but if you plan ahead, and follow a few rules, it’s quite straight forward.

Move them a very little, so 3 feet or 3 miles away. Anything in between means they go back to the original hive location and get very confused.
Block the entrance with a bit of foam when the last foragers come home in the evening. Or get up very early before they start to fly so you don’t leave any bees behind.
Move them in winter/spring – it’s easier as the boxes aren’t so heavy with honey. Use good straps. That’s essential to keep the hive parts together – you don’t want bees escaping!
Ideally secure the hives so they don’t slide around or tip over in your car or van.
Where possible face the hive boxes with the frames in the direction of travel so they don’t rattle so much.
When on the move ensure the bees have lots of ventilation so they don’t overheat. I’ve raised the boxes on a pallet.
If you have to carry the hives a fair distance borrow a hive barrow – it’s a brilliant bit of kit.
Most importantly enlist the help of a friend or two.

Luckily the move went smoothly and neither the bees or the beekeepers were harmed in the move 😊.

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Why do bees swarm?

If you see a big, swirling cloud heading out across the rooftops and trees, it could be a swarm of honeybees. They have left the safety of their hive and are flying off to find a new home – a hole in a tree, a chimney or an empty hive. It's an awesome sight!

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Swarming bees are full of honey - carrying supplies for their new home - so they usually don't sting. But it's best to stand well back just in case!

Swarming is an important, natural process. It happens when a colony of honeybees splits and the queen takes a large number of worker bees with her in search of a new home. It's the way they reproduce. As soon as the old queen reaches the new nest site her entourage builds wax honeycomb so then she can lay her eggs and there’s space for pollen and honey stores.

Meanwhile in the original hive site new queens are hatching. Another one or two queens might leave the colony to set up a new home but one will stay to rule over the original hive. In this way the colony becomes two, three or more colonies.

Honey bees mostly swarm early in the season from late April to June. So this is a busy time for beekeepers!

Swarming early in the season gives the bees enough time to set up their new home and gather plenty of stores to see them through the winter. Beekeepers put out bait hives to try to lure a passing swarm. We also ‘artificially’ swarm our colonies which means separating the brood from the queen and flying bees. This splits the colonies and the urge to swarm goes away - usually!

So if you are lucky enough to see a swarm of bees, marvel at this force of nature and then find your local swarm collector here: https://www.bbka.org.uk/swarm#swarmmap