In South carolina many of our small hobby beekepers have started to use
trailors to put 4 to 10 hives on.  These trailors are purchased from a
company Northern Hydraulics between $159 to $169.  The size is 40" by
48"  An open bed can be mnade with treated 2X4s and there is no worry
about weather damage.  A five foot length  bed will hold 3 hives.  The
hives can be mounted with truss brackets.  The only thing needed is a
strap to hold the tops dpwn when moving.  The advantage is that the bees
can be more easily placed in fields.  They can can also be easliy moved
with the farmers wants to use a spray.  The bess can be brought back.
There is may be a little drift but painting and marking can reduce
drifting. We have a Beekeeper (Kurt Herbst)  who operates Circle B ranch
which had trailors designed for pollination .  It will hold 20 or more
hives.  each hive sets between clips.  a long rod secures the bottom
board to the clips.  He also has a water system so that the bees have
water available, regardless of where they are.  It is easier to move one
trailor than 10 hives if you do not have special equipment.  There is a
new bee guard easy bee rig made in Isreal.  This allows a beekeeprs to
pull dopwn an tray to check brood boxes.  If this device could hold 4
hives on each side it could fit on a trailor base,  The beekeeprs could
check 4 hives at a time without lifting the supers off.  This rig could
be designed to fit trailers rather than using cranes as their video
shows.Ron Taylor Colleton County Beekeepers, Cottageville South Carolina
and President of South Carolina Beekeepers..
 
Roger Flanders wrote:
 
> The January, 1999, issue of Bee Culture has an interesting article by
> Larry
> Goltz about permanently mounting hives on short (10-16 ft.) flatbed
> trailers.  Among the several advantages he cites is the potential
> income
> from pollination contracts with small growers who only require one or
> two
> trailer loads, each carrying 12-14 hives.  Has anyone in the group
> tried
> permanently mounting hives on smaller trailers?  What advantages or
> disadvantages did you encounter?  And, possibly most importantly, do
> you
> believe there is any real market for pollination contracts utilizing
> such
> small numbers of hives?  (I'm located in eastern Nebraska.  I assume
> my
> "overnight towing radius" would be 600 miles at best.)  Thanks.