We've put several wild hives into boxes in the last few weeks, which means we have about 5 different boxes scattered all around. Once the bees are settled into their new homes, however, we can move them to a new location to set up an apiary. Kwao had cleared an area on his farm for some bee boxes, and most of our hives are ready to be moved. Last night, we went on a mission to move one of those hives to their new home.
To move a hive, you have to close up the entrance and put the box into a large bag, and then transport it to wherever you want to leave it. For us, that meant that we had to ride several miles of road with a box full of disgruntled bees. Nothing to worry about...probably. The whole operation also took place at night, since that's when all the bees will be inside the box.
We went after dinner, around 7:00. It was dark by the time we reached the hive. We closed up the entrance with folded plastic bags, and used three trash bags to enclose the box. Kwao carried the hive on his shoulder to the car (since he's a giant) and Dee and I rode in the back, attempting to make sure the hive stayed steady. However, we were driving into the bush on dirt roads, so this turned out to be an impossible task. By the time we reached the site of our new apiary, the bees were buzzing around their box pretty rapidly. Fortunately, we probably didn't have any pieces of comb break off, since that can be a magnet for ants and other critters that we don't want in the hive.
We set the hive on cinder blocks for a hive stand, unwrapped the trash bags and took the plastic bags out of the entrance. A few bees wandered out, which is a pretty good sign that no comb broke during the bumpy ride.
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| Inspecting the beehive |
Tonight, we repeated our little adventure with two other beehives, with the same positive results. Hopefully when we check on them tomorrow, all of the bees have decided to stick around. We now have the makings of two separate apiaries!
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