I was told to rotate my Flow Hive 180 degrees so that the Bees would have the morning sun.
So I moved it 90 degrees then two days later the other 90 degrees.
I checked on the bees and some bees where making it into the entrance while others were going to the old entrance but then discovering the real entrance.
I had my core flute slider in the bottom slot because it is Summer. But noticed some bees going into the hive that way, through the top of the core flute slider. So I moved the core flute slider up one position. When I pushed it in it felt like I might have crushed some bees.
Can anyone give me some advice as to what I should do?
You should always have the cor-flute in the top slot all year unless you live in a real heatwave area like Mildura, and even then it should be in the top slot most of the time. I’m in sub-tropical Queensland Tom and mine is permanently in the top slot.
It is too late now but in future if you need to rotate the hive do it 30 degrees at a time with about 2 days in each position. If you move the hive in your yard then at a meter at a time so you will minimize the disturbance to the bees or force them to re-orientate by placing some foliage cluttering the entrance and move the hive after dark.
Cheers
In such situation I would block undesirable entrance (over core flute slider). Easiest way, as I understand, by moving slider to the top slot. Second, what @Peter48 said, block the main entrance by something what bees can eventually remove (grass cuttings, small branch with leafs) and hope it will trigger reorientation in hive. If the latter fails, wait 4-6 weeks till the most stubborn bees die off.
Ok so the Core Flute Slider is in the top position. I think I may have crushed the bees when putting it into that position. If there are dead bees there do I need to lift off the brood box and remove them, or will the bees remove them from the hive?
I think the Bees are also trying to get into the hive underneath the core flute slider. Should I block off the bottom core flute slider position?
By taking the slider out any dead bees will fall out of the hive then SLOWLY refit the slider so that any bees will move out of the way. When you do an inspection remove and dead or previously squashed bees as SHB will lay eggs in the bodies and you don’t want that to happen. SHB (small hive beetle) can become a real issue if they get to become too large in numbers in a hive.
Cheers