Migratory beekeepers chase the bloom: pallets of hives are trucked from an early almond bloom to citrus, then on to summer wildflower or clover, following whichever forage is flowering that month. Every move is a logistics problem — how many hives fit a yard, how tightly they can be spaced without spreading disease or triggering drift and robbing, and whether the truck rolls by day or by cool, calm night.
Commercial migratory outfits in the US move upwards of a million colonies into California almonds every February — the largest managed pollination event on Earth — before trucking many of the same hives on to a second or third bloom that same season.
Follow a truckload of hives as it moves between three forage yards — an almond orchard, a citrus grove and a wildflower meadow — and see how load size, yard spacing and travel timing change colony outcomes.
Each yard has a forage radius and carrying capacity; cramming in more hives than the bloom can support drops nectar intake per colony, while spacing hives too tightly raises drift and disease risk between colonies.
Set the load size and yard spacing, pick a destination site, then dispatch the convoy and watch the truck drive the load in. Toggle night moves to see the effect on transport stress.
Commercial migratory beekeepers often move hives at night, after foragers return and entrances can be screened, because cooler temperatures and stationary bees make the trip far less stressful on the colony.