Moved hives - Stragglers...

[Rex "Hawk" Smith]

Hi Folks,

With Dallas County (Texas) doing mass insecticide spraying for West Nile - I decided that it was time last week to get my bees out of the city - and added my city-hives to my country hives last Friday evening.

This was my first time to move the hives - so I've got a few questions about the logistics of moving them.

I waited til dusk Friday to close up the hives - however there were still a LOT of foragers returning to the hives after I had blocked them closed, and was moving them onto the trailer.  For the 6 moved hives - I'm guessing there were several thousand bees in the air at the old locations of each of their moved hives.

On Monday (today) when I returned to the city - it looks like there are a lot of them still here - and have taken up shelter in an empty nuc in one of my sheds that has my empty/extra equipment.  Just leave them and let them die off in their normal life cycle? 

How many bees are typically "left behind" when moving hives?

Thanks,
Rex

[AllenF]

Take them in the nuc to the farm and dump them to see if they will take up in a hive.   Next time wait until dark dark.   Use smoke to drive bearding bees into a hive after dark if needed.   

[Snakey]

See if you can get them to move in to a hive or a nuc, and feed them, and if they settle in then combine them with another colony or give them a queen or a frame of brood and eggs. That's what I would do.

[AllenF]

Have they sprayed your area yet?

[Rex "Hawk" Smith]

I'd love to add drawn comb and a queen - but it's a bit late in the year to start a nuc and all my other - but all of that is 1.5 hours away.  I suppose these stragglers will meet their regular demise in the yard.

Yes - they sprayed us the 1st time last Thursday evening.  I had covered my hives with a WIDE cardboard boxes - flattened and laid on top of the hives like a big sun-shade.  About 30 minutes after they sprayed - it rained.  Friday night - I got my bees out - and as we left Dallas - the planes were flying their patterns for spraying again..  and again - it rained.  (Yay!).  Then it rained all day Saturday - and they are starting over with the spraying today.

All political knee-jerk reactions by elected politicians if you ask me.... but such is life sometimes.  All my bees are now at our apiary near Tyler, and seem to be doing well.  I'll go back - probably next weekend and do my hive checks.

Thanks for the feedback!