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  • From: Lewis Cauble <lewis AT hivebody.com>
  • To: Orange County Bees <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] What did I do wrong?
  • Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 14:14:47 -0400 (EDT)

Hello Mark,
I do not think that there is any reason to confine the bees to the hive when you move them.  In my experience, simply closing the entrance for the move and then opening at the destination is sufficient.
 
Bees need water as well as ventilation to keep the hive cool.  It is my understanding that water is not stored in the colony, but that a segment of the foraging force is tasked with foraging water.  With those foragers locked in, there was no opportunity for the foragers to fetch the water required to cool the hive. 
 
I have certainly lost drawn comb moving bees before, especially heavy frames of honey on newly drawn comb.  I found that if I sat the hive on the very back of my trailer I was more likely to blow out the comb from the frame.  It's like sitting in the back of the school bus as the bumps are amplified.  On a bumpy road in the school bus the folks in the front may have a smooth ride while the folks in the back may be bumping their head on the ceiling.  I try to keep the colonies as close to the front of the bus as possible whether I am moving them in a trailer or in the back of a truck.  Wiring the wax foundation can help mitigate some of the comb blowouts, and using plastic foundation should eliminate the problem altogether. In your case it sounds like the combs were intact once you arrived at the destination though and they simply let go because the bees were not able to keep things cool.
 
Many times folks who have an unwanted colony in their house will ask if they can simply block off the entrance.  It can be hard to convince them that it will not be a good idea but I believe your example makes it easier to see why it is not a good idea.  Without the ability to cool the hive, the wax will melt and the honey will be oozing from the wall or ceiling.
 
If your queen survived the ordeal I believe the colony will recover.  If not, simply add a frame of eggs from your queenright colony (or a mated queen if one is available).
 
Let us know how things progress.
 
Lewis
 

On April 14, 2014 at 10:03 AM MarilynMark Clark <wazazi.wa.binti AT gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Experienced Ones:
 
I had to move my apiary (3 hives), for reasons I will not go into here.  Things did not go well for one of them.
 
Background: One hive was a year old, new queen from last fall.  The other two are the result of a 50/50 split a couple weeks ago of an extremely strong hive which has been going strong since last Spring.  (The split did not stay 50/50 since apparently most the bees wandered back to the original hive/site.  I do not know which half has the queen, but both had eggs/larvae after the split.)  This original hive/site I will call the strong hive.
 
Day 1: For the move, I replaced the traditional inner covers with screened inner covers to provide more ventilation and to ensure full closure.  Then Friday after dark I fully closed the entrances.  All three hives have screened bottoms and consist of a full and two medium hive bodies.  Also, all three are in the process of being treated with Apistan.
 
Day 2: On Saturday about 4:00 PM the hives were loaded in a pick-up, driven about 4 miles to the new site (3.25 miles as the bee flies), and unloaded.  They were, of course, disturbed and not giving out a content buzz.  Quickly checked the hives through the inner cover by removing the outer cover for a few seconds.  The strong hive had the top solid of the frames covered with a thick layer of disturbed bees.  Not surprising I thought after being bucked around for the last hour.  Though what I could glean from the internet was to wait 72 hours (!) before opening, I decided to give them just a day.
 
Day 3: On Sunday again about 4:00 PM I opened the entrances.  The two non-strong hives (less-populated) came pouring out.  A few immediately came out of the strong hive.  I then replaced the screen inner covers with the traditional inner covers.  The two non-strong hives were fine.  But ...
 
Disaster!  When I took the outer cover off the strong file I could see that where, the day before, was covered with a thick layer of bees between the top of the frames and the screen, there now was a thick layer of dead bees.  Opening it up, I found in the top medium, the center 5 frames wax has melted and completely collapsed sending a cascade of melted wax, honey, and dead bees down into the lower two boxes.  It sees pretty obvious that the bees had "clustered" at the top of the hive and generated enough heat to kill the bees and melt the wax.  Whether it was shutting them in, moving them, a frustrated swarm(1), or some other cause I have no idea.
 
I did not have all my equipment at the new site, so I took the box off, cleaned out as many dead bees and collapsed comb as I could, and returned it to the hive.  I will go back today and replaced the destroyed  frames with ones with new foundation.  So now I may have two hives which are queenless.
 
What happened?  What did I do wrong?
 
Mark
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