Transferring bees to a new hive in Autumn is a tricky business in a cool climate but here is how we did it. The bars in the Top Bar Hive (TBH) were much longer than the bars on a Layens, so we had to cut each end off to ensure the comb fitted centrally in the new cavity. The owners had set up the new hive close to the original hive with the entrance facing the same direction. This preparation makes the move so much easier on the bees.

We started on the end frames that had no brood and fewer bees, and cut 3 frames at a time. The bees coped well with a slow cutting motion and all the helping hands kept the frames still. Too much enthusiasm and the bees dropped off the frames. Fortunately they fell in the new hive and were able to climb back onto existing frames.

The frames were placed in the new hive in the same order and same direction as their original frames. This helps to reduce trauma to the bees. The noise of the new hive rose a little indicating the queen was still on the frames in the old hive. This noise settled once all the frames came across.

Once all the frames were in and together, we pushed them to the same end of the hive to replicate their position from the old hive. The old hive still had a good number of bees from the returning foragers, so we moved the old hive to another position to reduce the confusion of smell. The foragers found the new location and the new entrance. Helping some of the individual bees in through their new entrance was fun.

One issue we had not anticipated is the depth of the original frames. They were much thicker than the rebate in the Layens and stopped the lid from closing. The solution was brutal and we chiselled off the edges, knowing the frames would be discarded next season as the bees build comb on the new layens frames.

These bees now have a chance of surviving winter with thick 42mm walls, the capacity to build deeper comb and the hive being set up as a vertical one for winter. The one thing they need now is extra energy stores for winter given we have had an unusual summer dearth.

Job well done and many Happy Beings