Lock DOWN!

[LazyBkpr]

So it occurred to me tonight, as I stapled screens over the entrances to 12 hives, took my shirt off once, and my pants off three times.. due to crawling bees.. took the stinger out of my ear.. my finger, and my forehead.... that I might be better off just doing this in the daytime and letting the foragers go where they may..   I think i could screen the entrances in the daytime and not get stung once.. so.. WHY do I do it at night?   I think some misguided thoughts of having all the bees and foragers inside the hive convinced me to do it this way, and I have been doing it like that ever since..
   So how do YOU put the bees in lockdown in preparation for a move?

[barry42001]

I don't know about anybody else but with my bees they always beard moderate to heavy day and night and assume  most of those that make up the beard are the older forager bees

[Perry]

I usually do it just before dark. A bit of smoke to drive the stragglers in and screen them up. Thankfully, having stopped moving any for pollination, this is no longer a regular occurrence anymore.

[iddee]

You yankees work too hard. 

I back up to the hives at dusk, set them on the truck or trailer. If trailer, I strap them down to it. I then drive to destination and unload.

Such a simple operation, why make it hard?

[lazy shooter]

You yankees work too hard. 

I back up to the hives at dusk, set them on the truck or trailer. If trailer, I strap them down to it. I then drive to destination and unload.

Such a simple operation, why make it hard?

Iddee, do you leave them to come and go through their in trances?  You don't secure them in the hive?  I am going to need to move one or two hives later in the summer is the reason for my curiosity.

[iddee]

I load them to where the entrance is facing the rear. The wind goes over the top, hits the tailgate, and comes back into the entrance. It keeps them in just fine.

Also, bees will not leave the hive when the wind at the entrance is over 15 MPH. Commercial beeks load semis with the entrance open and a net over the load. Once moving, the bees crawl back into the hives and sit tight until the truck stops again. Sometimes 500 miles or more between stops, thousands of miles in one trip.

[Riverrat]

exactly what Iddee said. I used to lock them down but havent in years.  Look at it this way.  You will never see a commercial keep with a semi full of bees headed across the country with the hives locked down.

[LazyBkpr]

Interesting.. I will have to try that Iddee/RR..   It cant be any harder on them than ticking them off after dark..

[iddee]

Lazy, set a hive on your truck at dusk, with the entrance facing the tailgate. Have your wife drive it to where you are going. You sit on the back and watch the hive. You will see any lost bees will be in the driveway or at your destination. Once moving on the road, they will stay in the hive.

Sitting against the front panel of the bed, no wind hits the hive, so no strap is needed as long as she doesn't turn the truck over. If she does, it won't be the hive you are worrying about.       

[LazyBkpr]

Well after the fiasco of pulling the screens this morning after transport I wont be screening them in again. I lost count at around 20 stings through the Jeans and to the hands..  somehow they got into my sleeves, and then UP my pants.. they were DETERMINED bees this morning..  Stung on the head, forehead, neck, etc, etc...    It REALLY makes them angry to be locked down...   The bees at the home yard were ticked off ALL day.. One of them even got Ted while we were sitting under the canopy trying to relax...

[Jen]

Awe Gees Scott, be prepared to not feel so well tomorrow morning, that's a lot of stings. That's about how many I took during my first cut out, felt a bit fluish the next day. You didn't suit up?

Seems to me this has happened to you one other time this season? do I remember that correctly?

Here... maybe this will ease the pain and bring a laugh, since well you know... ya had to remove your pants three times and all 

Dedicated All You Farmers Out There ~

[LazyBkpr]

I did have my jacket on, but no tape around my ankles or wrists etc, and they FOUND those openings..  Once started pulling those screens I was NOT about to stop.. No way I was going to go back later to finish..  so the screens got pulled, And I got stung..   Yeah, took about ten hours to hit me last time, its been a little over ten hours since it happened and I feel fine..  fine enough the wife just TOLD me to go find something to do so I would stop chasing her around the house..   

[Jen]

Good to hear 

[apisbees]

If you are stopping at traffic lights under street lights screening may be desired. Be aware of dot rules escaping bees are considered by some to be driving with an unsecured load. In most jurisdictions and in crossing state lines or commercial scales bees need to be confined to the hive or to the load with a net over the entire load to keep bees from escaping. I don't disagree with Iddee that for a short move in the dark load and go. have the truck running during loading as the vibration seams to keeps the bees from flying and crawling from the entrance.
If the bees are hanging out of the hive, I smoke them back in before installing the screen. I us a piece of #8 the length of the entrance 4" wide, fold into a u shape and tuck it into the entrance an 1 or so. When I reach the destination if it is warm and the bees are about to boil out of the hive when the entrance is removed I will smoke through the screen to get the bees turned around and then pull the screens. The screens are held in by friction and so no nailing of stapling is done which just seams to aggravate the bees more. I screen because I end up taking the hives through 2 community's when moving from fruit tree pollination to the dairy farm.