Moving bees in winter

They don’t hibernate, they cluster. They will fly out to poop on nice days even if it is quite cool, mine take short jaunts if it is brilliantly sunny even if barely above freezing.

If you move the hives during a time when they aren’t going to be flying for several days (cold and rainy) you’ll probably have the best luck.

Bear in mind that full hives ready to overwinter are heavy. You’ll need to strap the boxes together and get help to lift them only a cart or hand truck. You don’t want to expose them to the cold and you also don’t want to agitate them to leave the hive when the weather is inhospitable.

You could screen off the entrance for the move, keep it blocked for a couple days then open it up and do the “sticks in front of the entrance” trick like @Eva mentioned in a previous thread you had discuss moving splits.

They will re-orient but will probably still only be making quick trips to defecate until things warm up.

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