An Easier Way To Relocate Your Beehive

We are all familiar with the basic way how to relocate the beehive. Firstly we need to move them at least 2 miles away. Then we need to let them reorientate a few days, and then place them to your preferred location. We do this because if we move them close to their current location, they will return to their original location, and when they don’t find their home, they will get lost.

However, this is not the only way to relocate the beehive. You can do this much easier. You just need to make your bees

to learn how to reorientate themselves. Doing so, you will be able to move your beehive far away or nearby without bigger inconveniences.

In order to do this, you need to do the following.

When the majority of the bees are in the beehive (in the early morning or in the evening) you close the hive by blocking the entrance. Closed like this, relocate the beehive to the new location you desire. Make sure that you provide the bees

with good ventilation and keep them isolated for 72 hours. This will bring the result of your bees getting reoriented for the next time they re out.

In order to help the bees get used to the new location, before opening the hive, you need to provide them with something that will be close to the entrance and will make them navigate around it when they leave the hive. This could be bead curtain, a leafy branch or similar stuff. Don’t forget to put this kind of distraction on all of the exits from the hive, if there are multiple. When the necessary time

of around 72 hours passes, open the entrance. When exiting the hive, the bees will be distracted by the object in front of them. They will make a short pause and take a flight to reorient themselves. They will get used to the new location, surroundings, and conditions. After another 48 hours, remove the blockage from the entrance.

If you want to see if your hive-entrance-distraction works, try it when the beehive is still in its old location. You should notice that the bees are entering and exiting the beehive easily without the distraction. When the distraction is set, they should be flying around the entrance and broadening their space.

Katy

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View Comments

James says:

April 19, 2019 at 1:42 pm

If this is in warm Spring or hot summer weather, I can see a huge meltdown happening with the colony completely blocked off like that....not practical IMO as an ex-beekeeper and many moves using different techniques. If you decide to try this, watch the old location for bees trying to return there, likely will happen.