Moving and uniting colonies

All beekeepers have been taught that "colonies may be moved under 3 feet or over 3 miles". If colonies are moved any distance in between the bees will become lost and not be able to find their way home to their hive. In my last post I said that I wanted to unite two of my colonies (number three and number four) before letting them try and raise a new queen. At present the two colonies are about twenty feet apart, with a Willow bush in between them. Before the two colonies are united they need to be moved next to each other. But how?

Let me introduce the "Move-a-Hive-a-Matic" (patent pending)

It is basically a pallet strapped to a wheel barrow with a piece of plywood screwed to the top to provide a flat solid support for a beehive. I've screwed small pieces of plywood to the edges of the pallet to keep it from sliding off the side of the wheel barrow.

I took my new invention out to the apiary. I want to move hive number four next to hive number three and then unite them. First of all I checked that the "Move-a-Hive-a-Matic" would fit comfortably next to hive number three.

Then I took the "Move-a-Hive-a-Matic" over to hive number four and moved the hive on to it - a distance of just less than three feet. The photo below below shows hive number four after moving, and hive number three (the final destination) can be seen in the top right of the photo.

All I have to do now is move hive number four a couple of  feet every day until I have it where I want it - next to hive number three. Pure genius if I say so myself!