If you are planning to move your bees to the mountains, then you may be able to produce a second honey crop. Some areas in the mountains have both basswood and sourwood trees and each produces an excellent quality honey. According to the NCSBA Calendar, the basswood trees start blooming in the mountains on June 20 and they last 23 days. The sourwood trees start blooming in the mountains on June 25 and they last 25 days.
George W. Barkley in his booklet, Beekeeping in Forsyth County, made the following recommendations when moving bees for the sourwood honey flow: "If you take your bees to the mountains, you will need to make special preparations. Two or three days before taking them, remove all of the old honey supers, and put them on other hives you are not going to take -- if any. If you can't do this, these supers must be protected from the wax moth until you bring the bees back. Take the strong colonies. Put two supers of comb - extracted or new foundation, on each hive, and fasten a screen across the top of the hive. All parts of the hive must be stapled together.
On the morning you take the bees, you will have to close the entrance before the bees start flying at daylight. In hot weather, there will be a lot of bees on the landing board and the front of the hive. Fill a plastic spray bottle with water and spray the bees lightly. This will cause most of them to go into the hive. Smoke the rest, lightly, until they go in, then close the entrance with a screen. A warning -- never work bees in the dark unless it is necessary -- then have on plenty of clothes, for the bees will crawl all over you and they will not hesitate to sting.
Avoid jarring the hives when you load them. Do not stop until you reach your destination. While moving, the bees will stay quiet. If you stop, they will try to get out and the temperature in the hive will rise and the bees might smother. Turn them out as soon as possible after you arrive.
It is important to get the bees to the Sourwoods at exactly the right time. If you take them too soon, they will gather nectar from the weed blooms, and if you get them there even a few days after the Sourwoods start to bloom, you will lose a lot of honey. . . .
The Sourwood honey flow seldom lasts more than three weeks. When the flow is over and you have taken the honey off, bring the bees back as soon as possible. If you leave them up there for a few weeks, they may starve.
Usually one super to each hive is enough when bringing the bees back."
I have moved my hives to the mountains several times and for the most part the above recommendations were followed. One change that I would recommend is to use a ratchet hive strap to hold the hive together instead of using staples. The hive strap is easy to use and it does not damage the woodenware like the staples do. kgp
Updated:
11-17-09