[log in to unmask] (Steve Thrasher):
>He also said that I would have to move them at
least two miles away for about three or four days and then bring them back or
I would loose them.
 
   He's right.  You cannot move bees short distances. (I thought I had
mentioned this in talking with you online, but we were apparently cut off.)
 They are creatures of habit.  They will exit in the new location, go out to
forage, and return to the old location where they will eventually die. This
is just as bad as a pesticide hit.  You can lose most of the field force.
 
    One technique to get around this is the one that he proposed. Or do they
actually need to be moved?  Sounds to me like they can reach the melon field
now.
 
>I wanted to move my hives to a shade tree at the end of my watermelon field.
  The man I get my supplies from said he liked his bees in the sun so he
could see better to check them.
 
    Depends on where you are: temperature is the key.  Here is South Carolina
we can get into to upper 90's or 100's, and the bees really suffer, if they
don't have shade.  If your normal temps are more like 80's you could leave
them in the sun.  They are easier to work in the sun, and bees in really deep
shade (like a cluster of live oak trees) can be ugly as all get out.  They
also won't work much.
 
   But, if they begin to suffer heat stress, they will only work the blossoms
about sunrise, shortly they will be only carrying water.
 
   Staple or cleat the bottom board before moving them.  Don't suffocate them
by closing them up, like many hobbyists. If you feel that you must close them
up, be sure to have a top screen instead of a cover.  Don't try to move hives
that are heavy with honey.  The brood chamber and one partly filled super is
ideal for pollination.  Smoke them and move at dawn or just before dusk.  A
cold night is okay, too, but you will get severely punished if you try moving
on a warm night. Bees crawl ! ! ! ! !
 
   I move hundreds of hives so I can't always go by the ideal, but the
perfect move, in my experience, is to load the truck in the evening, and park
it, hosing it down if it is warm.  You can, if hives are handled gently, get
them on the truck before they wake up and come out to see what's going on.
 That late in the day, few will fly.
 
   Then unload at sunrise in the new location.  Bees will often be carrying
pollen before we finish unloading, and they ususally are very gentle (if we
haven't hit too many ruts).
 
   Others may find this of interst, so I'll post on the Bee List.
 
[log in to unmask]
Dave Green
 
 
>Grits is grits.  Who cares whether it is singular or plural?<