Transporting a Nuc?

Hey There,

I captured a swarm about two weeks ago and they seem to have settled in to the nuc that I placed them in pretty nicely. I'm in an urban area where I am only allowed one hive in my backyard so I'm going to start another hive in a friends yard across the city.

What is the best way to go about transporting a nuc? I understand that you have to seal them up some how but I'm not sure what the best way to do this is going to be. Any suggestions? I have a truck and it's only about a 30 minute drive.

I'd also love to hear any suggestions about how to best help the bees settle into their new location.

thanks!

the main idea is to keep the bees from overheating and suffocating. fly screen works pretty well.

close up the entrance in the evening after everybody's back inside. then you can staple fly screen over the top in place of the lid so they've got plenty of ventilation, then move them.

alternately, if it's a cool night and they aren't completely filling the space they've got, you might get away with leaving the lid on and stapling the fly screen over the entrance. whatever you do, the quicker you are about it, the better.

We have moved whole hives, simply by wrapping them in a white sheet and putting them in the car. You need to make sure they won't shift around as you drive though, so consider straps rope or bungee to hold the lid down.

Keep your veil on while driving, we always seem to end up with one or two bees loose in the car with us!

... and don't get pulled over at a DHS stop lol!

Nick Kitchener wrote:... and don't get pulled over at a DHS stop lol!

I got pulled over a couple years ago with a colony in the bed of the truck that I had just finished cutting out of a barn. that's still the largest cutout I've been involved with. the officer was curious about it and seemed more interested in talking about bees than my suspected offense: eating while driving (I wasn't).