You may have heard people say that beehives should only be moved less than three feet or more than three miles. But why? Bees are quite smart, so they learn their surroundings quickly. When moved to a new area, they’ll directly want to go back to their original nest area.
We relocated our bees more than three miles, 307 miles to be exact, and moved the apiary from South Carolina to the mountains of Western North Carolina.
If we were to move our beehive three feet or less, the bees will come out, instinctively go to the old nest site, wonder why their home isn’t here anymore, then quickly figure out the new nest site and go back safely. Experts have concluded that three feet is a safe distance for bees to go back and forth without any danger.
On the other hand, when you move bees for three miles or more, they won’t be able to locate their old nest site. Unaware of any route to their previous home, the bees will start adapting to this new area as their new haven.
But why 3 miles? As proven by the wreath experiment of J. E. Eckert published in 1933, bees will fly for as long as they need in search of pollen or nectar. Yet, around the third or fourth mile, they’ll start to consume more energy than they’ll gain from the pollen. This means the change in hive weight will be negative.
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