How do you relocate a beehive?

Answer 1

Firstly, do it in the evening when there are no bees out foraging, and block the entrance with sponge and strap the hive sections together.

Secondly, there is a saying: 'You must move a bee hive less than three feet, or more than three miles'. This is important because bees learn the location of their hive and usually forage within a three mile radius, although they can go further. If you move a hive more than three feet, foraging bees will return to where the hive was and will not recognize the hive in its new position, so will be lost.

If you move a hive further, but still within the bee's old foraging area, they will again try to return to the original hive site.

The only solution is to move the hive well out of the original foraging area. The bees will then learn the new location of the hive and a new foraging area and all will be well.

There is another part to the saying: '... and don't move them back within three weeks'. This is because the foraging life of a bee is about three weeks, so if you move them back within the original foraging area within that time the older bees will be confused. After three weeks there will be few, if any, bees that knew the original area.