Transporting Bees: Instructions and Key Points

Many beekeepers practice transporting bees to increase the volume of honey or to obtain certain types of it. Thanks to mobile beekeeping, it is possible to double the nectar collection. Let’s find out how to transport hives to the honey collection site and how to set up an apiary in a new location.

What is it needed for?

Mobile beekeeping is a complex and expensive business that only experienced beekeepers undertake. Transporting hives requires time, money and effort. One hive without honey weighs 18-20 kg.

Despite the difficulties, many beekeepers practice transporting apiaries.

Reasons for mobile beekeeping:

• the possibility of installing hives in an ecologically clean area in order to obtain high-quality honey;
• placing the apiary near certain plants to collect a specific type of honey – buckwheat, alfalfa, etc.;
• search for places not occupied by competitors and a better food base for bees.

There are species of bees that are not able to fly long distances for honey. Usually the flight radius is 2-5 km. Thanks to the delivery of apiaries to fields and plantings with flowering honey plants, honey is within “walking distance” for bees.

Some beekeepers initially create mobile apiaries, counting on a quick honey harvest in fields, meadows and plantings. Others begin to remove hives out of necessity – due to a shortage of food supplies.

Advantages and disadvantages

Transporting hives is not an easy task, given their weight and the risks to the bees during transport. But nomadic apiaries have many advantages.

Pros:

• Thanks to transportation, it is possible to obtain a certain volume of honey much faster than in a stationary apiary;
• honey collection starts earlier than the standard time and continues throughout the season – from early spring to late autumn;
• the ability to control the schedule and volumes of honey collection.

Cons:

• difficulties of transportation and costs associated with it;
• beekeepers have to live in the field, enjoying a minimum of amenities;
• the need to constantly monitor the apiary;
• obtaining a special permit for transporting hives;
• the risk of bee death due to unfavourable conditions – increased temperature and humidity in the hive.

Mobile apiaries require serious physical effort from the beekeeper, giving up comfort and good health.

When to transport?

The time for transporting bees is chosen when it is possible to fly over nearby areas – meadows, fields and forests. Transportation is carried out during the period of swarm activity.

It is recommended to transport hives in early spring and autumn. Most often, beekeepers take out hives early in the spring, when the period of the first flights begins.

Advantages of spring transportation:

• there are few bees and brood in the hives;
• no heavy frames with honey;
• there are no new honeycombs built by bees.

It is not recommended to transport bees in winter, unless absolutely necessary. The most dangerous period for transportation is the end of winter, when a critical volume of feces accumulates in the hives.

Transportation features:

• carts or trailers are used for transportation;
• maximum transportation time – 48 hours;
• It is forbidden to transport bees in extreme heat – they experience discomfort and may die;
• In summer, hives are transported in cloudy or rainy weather, or at worst at night.

Preparation for transportation

Transporting an apiary is a responsible task that requires special preparation. First, choose a location, then prepare the transport, hives and inventory. If you do not prepare well for transportation, there is a risk of losing bees and breaking their houses.

Features of the new place

The main aspect when choosing a place for an apiary is the type and quantity of honey plants in the vicinity accessible to bees. The more flowering herbs, trees, and agricultural crops there are in the area, the greater the volume of honey collected.

Requirements for the apiary location:

• The presence of a large and level area on which a specific number of hives can be freely placed.
• No drafts, rain, wind or direct sunlight.
• A body of water with clean water nearby.
• High honey potential. The more honey plants, the less often you will have to move the apiary. It is desirable that some honey plants replace others.
• The optimal relief is hilly. Plains and plateaus are less suitable.
• No quarantine restrictions.
• Remoteness from roads, enterprises, residential areas, other apiaries.
• The minimum distance to the old place is 3-4 km. Otherwise, the bees are able to return to places familiar to them.

Transport requirements

The choice of transport for transporting an apiary depends on the number of hives, the frequency of transportation, the availability of a driver’s license (category) and other factors.

Transport requirements:

• For the profitability of a mobile apiary A heavy-duty vehicle is required. To transport hives with a total weight of over 0,75 t, the driver will need an E-category license.
• If the beekeeper has a category C license, but wants to transport the hives on his own, he must re-equip the vehicle properly.
• Transporting the apiary It is possible on a tractor with a trailer, but in this case you will need to obtain a special certificate. Categories B and C will not help, since only the trailer itself weighs more than 0,3 tons.
• If the beekeeper has neither transport nor rights for his driving, the problem is solved by hiring a carrier.

Decommissioned equipment is often used as transport for transporting the apiary, for example, an old bus or other type of transport that allows for the placement of a dozen hives at one time.

Inventory

For operation and transportation of mobile apiaries, various equipment is required. For transportation:

• nomadic grid – it is necessary for ventilation of the hives and preventing the bees from becoming sealed;
• bars – to connect hives;
• clamps – to secure bee houses;
• sling net – to provide external fastening (it can also be used to build a canopy for a beekeeper’s booth).

Beekeepers live on the move in special structures called nomadic booths.

To set up and maintain an apiary, you will need the following equipment and tools:

• main and spare smoker;
• spray gun;
• carpentry tools;
• empty hives;
• swarms;
• scales in a casing;
• lamp.

How to prepare hives for transportation?

If the transportation is carried out in the spring, while there is no heat, special conditions do not need to be created. It is enough to strengthen the frames in the hives to prevent them from shifting during transportation.

If the hives are transported in the summer, some of the frames may be filled with honey. To prevent them from falling on the brood during movement, they are taken out and installed along the perimeter of the trailer. Special dividers ensure immobility.

When the honey collection is complete, the bees are transported along with the honey contained in the honeycombs.

How to prepare bee houses for long-distance transportation:

1. If you have a long journey ahead – for more than one night – cover the hives with an awning, which will protect them from sunlight and overheating.
2. Improve nest ventilation, To prevent overheating inside the hives, it is recommended to increase the hive volume or replace the board “ceilings” with lattice frames.
3. To prevent injury and death of insects, make sure that there are no objects in the hive that could fall on the bees. Check the quality of the fastening of the honeycombs, locks and other components of the bee house – each element must be securely fixed.
4. All parts of the hive, which may fall off due to vibration (honeycombs, frames), remove. Secure all non-removable elements. Nothing should jump out of the grooves, slide or touch other surfaces.
5. Before loading the hives, drive the bees into them. If they resist, use a smoker. After treatment with smoke, the bees become irritated and agitated, you have to air out their homes, and this is not welcome before transportation. Instead of smoke, you can use water.
6. If large hives are being transported In the spring, beeswax is added to the bee nests. And when the temperature rises, space is freed up at the top – about 10 cubic dm.

Loading rules

Hives must not only be prepared for transportation, but also loaded correctly. During loading, there are risks for both the hives and the people loading them.

Features of loading and recommendations for its implementation:

1. Loading hives It is recommended to do this with the car engine running. This allows the bees to get used to the hum and vibrations before the car starts moving.
2. The hives are placed as compactly as possible. For example, a truck designed for 1,5 tons can accommodate 12 hives on one floor. Their number can be doubled by installing a second tier – it is placed on strong boards.
3. To prevent strong shaking When driving on uneven roads, the body of the car or trailer is lined with a layer of straw, and the hives are tied with ropes. If the road is long, check from time to time how firmly the knots are fixed.
4. If you are going to drive on a good asphalt road or a flat dirt road, the hives are placed with their back or front walls facing the direction of transport. When the car accelerates or brakes, the force of inertia exerts pressure not on the plane of the honeycombs, but along it. This prevents them from breaking.
5. If the car is going to drive on a country or forest road, where the speed of movement is extremely slow, the hives are placed in a car or trailer so that the plane of the honeycombs is across the movement. This arrangement makes them more stable during the action of forces that appear during sudden vibrations in the transverse direction – when driving over holes and bumps.

How to transport hives?

When transporting the apiary, beekeepers try to provide the bees with maximum comfort. Particular attention is paid to maintaining the temperature and humidity in the hives.

Air access

During transportation, it is important to ensure a favorable atmosphere inside the hives. The task of beekeepers is to prevent the air from heating up and becoming too humid.

How to ensure air exchange:

• To ensure that air flows into the hives more actively, mesh is attached to their cuffs in frames.
• For better air flow, small holes are made in the lid and covered with mesh.
• They leave small cracks through which insects cannot squeeze through. In this case, there is a danger that bees clinging to the gaps will block the air flow into the hives.

If bee houses are transported in the summer heat, they are arranged so that there are 15 cm wide gaps between adjacent rows. This improves the movement of air masses. To ensure this distance, spacers made of beams of suitable width are placed between the hives.

Safety of people during transportation

To ensure that the transported hives and people involved in loading and transportation are not damaged during transportation, a number of special measures are taken:

1. All bee houses are closed so that the insects have no opportunity to fly out. The bees, irritated by the loading and the roar of the engine, will fly out and will definitely attack people.
   The situation is especially dangerous when insects penetrate the driver’s cabin. Because of the bite, the driver can lose control of the car and the road for a split second. Then there is a risk of a traffic accident.
2. To prevent bee attacks, beekeepers take smokers with them, which they keep ready. People involved in transportation wear protective clothing and masks to prevent insect bites.
3. Car first aid kit supplemented with an antihistamine (antiallergic) drug. Bee stings can cause a severe allergic reaction, and the above-mentioned drugs can prevent it.

Travel speed

The driver transporting bees selects the speed taking into account the quality of the road surface and the characteristics of the cargo being transported. If the road has a good surface, the car moves at the same speed as when transporting ordinary cargo.

When driving on roads with problematic surfaces, as well as on forest and country roads, the speed must be reduced to prevent the valuable cargo from shifting.

Despite the measures taken (fixation), strong shaking can lead to the loosening of structures, the falling off of individual elements, which often results in the death of bees.

Recommended driving mode:

• the optimal speed on a road with good asphalt surface is 50-70 km/h;
• speed on roads with problematic surfaces or without them – 15-30 km/h.

In places where travel is difficult, the speed is reduced to 5-10 km/h. It is not recommended to stop during transportation of hives with bees. If you still have to make a stop, then in the quietest and shaded place possible.

Other conditions of mobile beekeeping

When engaged in nomadic beekeeping, one has to observefollow certain rules and take into account a huge number of nuances:

• to simplify loading and unloading of hives, it is recommended to make them from lightweight materials;
• hives must have flat and even roofs – so that it is possible to install them in several tiers;
• For successful transportation of bee colonies, it is important to comply with all sanitary standards applicable to these insects.

Possible mistakes

Transporting bees, as well as setting up an apiary in a new location, is a risky and expensive undertaking. Beginners often make mistakes that lead to losses.

Wrong actions:

• Placing hives on the coast of a reservoir. It is especially dangerous when honey plants are located on the opposite bank. Bees, flying across the water surface, can fall into the water and drown if the wind blows.
• Installing an apiary in a lowland. The climate here is unfavourable for bees – there is often fog and cold.
• Location near other people’s hives. There is a risk that the bees will fly away to a neighboring apiary.
• Placing an apiary near agricultural fields. If hives are transported to agricultural lands, interact with farmers to receive timely warnings about the use of pesticides. Thousands of bee colonies die every year due to poisoning.

How to install hives in a new location?

Upon arrival at the new apiary site, after unloading and placing the houses on the ground, the hives are not opened immediately. First, they wait until the honey plants excited by the transportation calm down, and only then open the entrances. Adaptation to a new place lasts about 12 hours.

Features of installing hives in a new location:

1. Arriving at the honey-bearing area and having unloaded the hives, they begin to arrange them. The bee houses are placed so that direct sunlight does not fall on them.
2. Good place for hives – in the shade of trees and bushes. Beekeepers usually install their hives in plantings dividing fields with alfalfa, sunflowers, and other honey plants.
3. If there is no suitable vegetation nearby, creating shade, bee houses are covered with branches and canopies are built.
4. After the bees have adapted to the new location and calm down a bit, beekeepers begin to gradually, at intervals of several hours, open the flight holes. Usually, the flight holes are opened in 50% of the hives at the same time – every other one. They do not open all at once, since the insects must first get their bearings.
5. Gradual opening of the flight holes allows the bees to get used to the area. They make a preliminary flight around it and gradually calm down, settle in. This approach also helps to avoid mixing families.
6. When bees adapt and stop being nervous, beekeepers begin installing frames.
7. If the hives are brought to a new location at night, The flight holes in all hives are opened simultaneously.
8. If the bees are irritated after transportation and do not calm down, wait with unpacking the hives and installing the frames – this event is carried out the next day after arrival.
9. During the first 3-5 days of stay In a new place, bees show unprecedented aggressiveness. While flying around the territory, they continue to be aggressive. During this period, insects are capable of attacking anyone they meet. They attack people and bees from other apiaries.
10. To pacify insects The entrances are opened, holding a smoker at the ready. Thanks to the smoke, it is possible to calm the aggression of the bees. As a rule, 3-4 smoke streams are enough to calm them down. After such treatment, the bees become calmer and do not attack passers-by so actively.
11. The transfer of hives from the traveling position to the normal position is carried out as soon as possible. The best option is the evening of the day of arrival. Sometimes they immediately set up stores with dry bees. Then the beekeepers carry out all the necessary activities provided for in the framework of bee care.
12. On the day of arrival, landing boards and drinking bowls are installed. If you delay providing water, the insects themselves will go in search of it. They will find water, but it may be of poor quality.
    Once bees have discovered a drinking source outside the apiary, it will be difficult to train them to use waterers.
13. Installing hives in a new location, the presence of other apiaries must be taken into account. It is prohibited to place bee houses so that they are on the flight path of neighboring bees.

With a good honey collection – over 2 kg per day – bees almost never use waterers, since the water contained in the nectar is enough for them to prepare larval food.

How do bees react to moving?

Bees are easily irritated by any interference in their lives. The noise of a motor and moving houses from their nesting place greatly upsets honey-bearing insects. When a car starts moving, vibrations and being in a confined space cause additional irritation for bees.

Nervous bees experience an acceleration of metabolic processes, their body’s need for oxygen increases many times over. This is why the insects are so persistent in trying to fly out. They look for the smallest cracks to squeeze through.

Due to the excited state of the insects, the temperature inside the hive increases, more honey is consumed than usual, and humidity increases rapidly. In such conditions, the honeycombs can break off and crush not only the regular bees, but also the queen.

What to do if the hive is damaged during transportation?

Despite all the safety measures taken, hives are often damaged after transportation. If loading or driving rules are violated, breakdowns cannot be avoided. The beekeeper accompanying the hives must have materials, tools and devices that will allow him to quickly fix the breakdown.

Tow and clay are usually used to repair faults. Take a clay solution prepared in advance with you. It will come in handy if insects start squeezing through cracks – you will stuff them with tow and then cover them with a clay mixture.

If during transportation you notice that honey is leaking out of the hive and insects are flying out, this means that the bee house has been seriously damaged.

What to do if honey is leaking from the hive:

1. Open the top entrances and lift the lid. Let the bees fly out.
2. When the insects have calmed down, dismantle the hives and remove the damaged honeycombs.
3. Remove dead bees.
4. Clean the bee house from honey drips and repair it.
5. Replace damaged honeycombs with new ones.
6. Provide the bees with food, arrange their nests and close the hive with a lid. Do not close the entrances.

When performing repair work, keep the smoker lit at all times. Work in protective clothing.

Important nuances in the organization

When following the instructions for nomadic beekeeping, there are a number of nuances that even experienced beekeepers must take into account:

• Before transportation, it is necessary to ensure the integrity and strength of the hives;
• To ensure softness and quietness for the bees during transportation, the hives should be positioned so that they do not hit each other;
• for ease of loading and unloading, hives should be made in advance from lightweight materials;
• The roofs of the hives must be straight and level so that they can be placed on top of each other;
• rope and wire will help to secure the hives more securely;
• the recommended distance for transporting bees is no more than 30 kilometers;
• By following sanitary standards, you can reduce the risk of bee diseases.

Nomadic beekeeping is a method that allows you to double the volume of honey collected. Transporting bees is accompanied by a large number of risks, so it is recommended only for experienced beekeepers who are ready to devote most of their free time to this business.

How to make a cart for transporting hives?

If the beekeeper has not yet acquired a trailer or platform for transporting hives, he can make a small vehicle with his own hands – a cart for transporting bees over short distances. It can accommodate only one hive.

To make a cart, you need a metal frame and large-diameter wheels – on small wheels, transportation will be difficult and will require significant effort.

How to make a cart for a small country apiary:

1. Attach two handles to the frame.
2. At the bottom of the frame, near the wheels, weld two metal pipes and a fork.

Before transportation, the cart is brought to the hive so that the fork goes under its bottom. After that, the bee house is erected on the structure – there is no need to lift and carry heavy hives. To transport several hives at a time, by strengthening the axis, increase the area for installing the load.

In order to avoid losses during transportation of the apiary, strictly follow the rules of transportation and your own safety. When transporting bees to honey plants, it is important to take into account all the nuances of delivery and the features of the new location. Then the risks associated with the functioning of the mobile apiary will be minimized.

Is it necessary to remove the apiary every year?

Transporting bees is accompanied by a set of risks. Nomadic beekeeping is recommended to be organized only in case of complete confidence in its payback. The first year will show how profitable this method of beekeeping is.

It is recommended to carry out a trial bee removal in the spring, so that by summer you can understand how profitable honey collection using this technology is. If it does not pay off, you can still manage to recover the financial losses from mid-summer.

It is not always necessary to remove the entire apiary – you can periodically remove only part of the hives. Also, you do not need to leave for the entire season – only during the period when there are no honey plants nearby.