Hello: I am new to the Bee-L, and have been enjoying your recent discussions. Yesterday's correspondence on bee moving was interesting. I work at Kona Queen Hawaii. We move 2500 two high hives twice a year by hand! I thought you might add my experience and comments to the discussion. The terrain in Hawaii is very rough. We are forced to use 1 ton or 3/4 ton four wheel drive trucks. This limits our loads to between fifty and 100 hives. Moving 2500 hives 100 at a time takes quite a while and we are well practiced! We load all our hives just before sunset. Two guys to a load. The hives are not closed. When the flight stops (shortly before sunset) the hive entrances are smoked and all hives are loaded. The entrances face forward. Two strong guys can load 100 hives in less than half an hour. The loads are then tied securely and covered with a net. The trucks are then parked under the sprinkler for the night. Hawaiian night temeratures are rarely below 65 degrees, but the water keeps the bees in the hive. In the morning the hives are unloaded in their new locations. We try to unload just as the sun is rising. You don't want to wait too long! We have good success with this method, although I have had few disasters. One particular situation involving a long wait in heavy traffic due to a car accident comes to mind. Bees everywhere. I also remember being lost and driving around a sugar cane field in the rain looking for the location. Not fun. Mark at Kona Queen Hawaii document1