We have changed the location of our beehives!!!
Nearly a taboo in the beekeepers world but here we are, after reading a few pages on the internet and the Michael Bush site/book we got the new area ready and waited till about 5 pm on the 18th of March and moved them one by one, in the exact order as they were they were placed back from one side of the shed to the other. Blocked the entrances and picking them up very gently and placing them onto their new supports. We levelled them making sure they are slightly leaning forward so the liquid feed if and when given leans towards the entrance. Once they were all in line we left it for a few more minutes and once I started unblocking the hives I put bits of grass into each and every entrance. The reason behind is as the bee makes her way out she stumbles on what ever is in her way and it makes her think, look around and realize a change has taken place, those that did not do this returned to the old area but upon finding an empty space thought back to the moments when they stumbled and return or they fly in a cone that gets bigger and bigger till they find the hive. Once there and later on I noticed some bees fanning their smell glans which also helps them navigate to the appropriate place. I did not noticed them having a huge problem relocating, they were not overly friendly with passers by but once the first day of confusion was over they were back to their normal self . Well mannered and collected.
The day after they were moved it rained and it was cold, we did not see much if any bee activity, second day the sun came out and so did the bees. The third day they were back to normal.
They have been extremely busy getting pollen, most pollen comes from pussy willows, there are some primroses in flower but nothing more, not that I can see, hazels have just about finished, other trees are bursting but not yet out, not sure what is going to happen now with the cold spell here, but that is not suppose to stay for too long.
New location