Check out this
facebook group which I am a member of
JPTheBeeMan and watch some of Jeff Armstrong's videos of hive removals on youtube.
Depending on your location it may be too late this year for them to be moved sucessfully.
When you do move them you will want to save all the brood comb by fixing it in place in frames using rubber bands, ensuring it stays the same way up as it came from the colony. Once you have transferred most of the brood you can put a lid on the box and position it as near as possible to the original hive location and the remaining bees will find their way to it by scent. You can also use pieces of
cardboard to scoop piles of bees up and move them to the box.
Don't try to save honey stores - it is heavy, sticky and messy and can easily kill bees by drowning them. The comb is often too heavy to hold in place properly in the frames so it slips and moves out of line. Instead you can throw all the capped honey in one
bucket and all the uncapped nectar in another (the uncapped may ferment - maybe make mead?). You can then
feed their own honey back to them which gives them a
boost repairing all the damaged comb.
EDIT: Just saw you posted your location as South Dakota. It is too late for you, as the bees will not have a hope of repairing the damage before they slow down for Autumn. Wait until spring when the colony is flying and busy.
