moving bees

Hi
I want to move my 4 hives a distance of about 30 meters - further away from the washing lines where they are allegedly hasseling the mrs. during the summer.
I've read that if this is done during a cold period in winter the 3 mile rule can be ignored as the bees memory is deprogrammed.
Does anyone have experience of this before before I cause a pontential problem?

Do it on the middle of a prolonged cold spell and move the hives carefully so as not to disturb the cluster - it will also help if you pile some twiggy branches across the entrance after the move to encourage reorientation when they first leave the hive.

I moved all 10 of mine last December in a cold spell - at most 10 meters.

No issues at all...

I moved one of my more important hives a distance of 30 feet just 10 days ago during a fairly cold spell and then sealed the entrance for 7 days, after which I opened the entrance and placed a large snow board in front of it.
Their first flying day was yesterday (12 degrees), and by midday there was a cloud of several hundred bees playing outside the hive.

I made a point of checking the empty nuc box I'd put in the old place as a 'belt and braces' measure, and some 6 or 7 bees were inside it, checking-out the empty box.
I removed each of these bees, one at a time, and flicked them into the air, when each one flew away in the direction of the new hive location.

That suggests to me that bees are able to hold the memories of 2 different hive locations for some time, and will choose whichever one suits them best.

LJ

thanks. I'm awaiting a cold period, its unusually warm for the time of year with no frost.
Incidentally, here in France it is said that you should move your bees 3 kilometres. Since this is les than two miles I take it to mean that French bees are either lazier or have worse memories than British bees.