Transport of beehives and drums

Moving hives is the operation with the widest margin for error in all beekeeping: when it goes wrong you do not lose time — you lose colonies, and sometimes worse.

The sequence that works

1. Close at night or before dawn, with all the foragers inside. Closing during the day leaves half the hive in the field.
2. Strap floor, brood box, supers and roof with a band or strap (€4.95-7.95). An unstrapped hive opens on the first bend, with the bees inside and shut in.
3. Ventilate. This is what kills most colonies in a move. A closed hive full of bees overheats within minutes — far sooner than people expect. A ventilation grid, not simply a blind entrance.
4. Open at destination at night or at dawn, never in full sun.

Weight, the other problem

A full super weighs 25-30 kg and a complete hive considerably more. The Flow Super Lifter® and the trolleys exist because your back is the resource that does not get replaced. If you migrate regularly, this is not a luxury: it decides how many more years you can keep doing it.

The hook scale

For €10.90 it tells you whether a hive is short of stores without opening it. It is the cheapest diagnostic instrument in the apiary and, in winter, the only one you can use without harming the colony.

What the law asks

Moving hives requires movement documentation and the holding's registration. Before migrating between regions, check what the destination requires: this is not avoidable paperwork.

Parts are in hive accessories; hives in beehives.