23rd February was the first really nice day in 2012 and my bees were out flying! It was a good chance to shoot some footage on my Canon 550D (with Magic Lantern) and some vintage lenses.
Whilst I have seen the odd bee or two coming and going from the hives over winter, there was one hive (the one furthest from the camera in the film) which was very quiet indeed. It was positioned on its own half way down the drive but I gradually (see below) moved it up with the other two. This is a much better spot as it gets the sun for a much longer time each day. The warmer the bees are the more active they become – and its a lot less draughty there too.
If you move your hive you should do it in small steps – no more than 3-feet per day. Failing that you should move it more than 3-miles away, leave it there for a week or so, and then move it back to the desired position. This stops the bees becoming disorientated. If you moved the hive say 6-feet the bees would return to the old hive position and perish. Move the hive 3-miles away (which is just beyond their foraging distance from their hive) and the bees will come out of the hive, realise they are somewhere completely new and re-map the hive location.
Clever little things aren’t they?
