I moved the little cast swarm that has been in a bait hive for the last 6 weeks a distance of about 20 feet to a permanent hive.
Bee wisdom states that... "One should move a beehive fewer than three feet or over three miles", there are ways around this.
I moved the bait hive to the new location when all the bees were home in the late evening. I placed a branch in front of their entrance to encourage the bees to re-orientate the following day.
The bees were given a couple of days to get used to their new location. There may be a few old bees who return to the old location and one can leave a box there to collect them, returning them to the new site in the evening but I found that unnecessary as the new hive was in view of the old location.
The bees were given a couple of days to get used to their new location. There may be a few old bees who return to the old location and one can leave a box there to collect them, returning them to the new site in the evening but I found that unnecessary as the new hive was in view of the old location.
View of the bait hive entrance lined up with their new entrance behind. After adjusting to their new location the combs with bees are transferred into the permanent hive.
The hive ready to receive the combs. Another colony is undisturbed at the other end of the hive.
While transferring the combs I took the opportunity to take a few photos.
This comb is filled with colorful pollen and capped honey on top.
This comb has pollen on the right, Honey on top, brood and larvae.
A good view of their capped brood.
Here they are in their finished hive.
They were amazingly good natured about the move.
Edited to add, These bees overwintered successfully and have continued to thrive.