When to split?

[Propolis30]

I have 2 double deep hives that I want to split. When is this done? Right when the honey flow starts? During the middle of it?

[Michael Bush]

If you take most of the brood and the old queen and make a split two weeks before the main flow and leave the old hive with only one deep and some supers, you'll get as good or better harvest and a split. Some people do them early and try to build both halves up enough to get a harvest, but you need early queens to do that well. You can do it after the flow without impacting the harvest much.

If you don't care about honey, most anytime from early blooms in the spring until mid summer works fine.

[Propolis30]

Thanks Michael. My only problem is actually finding the queen. I have a hard time with that for some reason. But I may give it a try around the first or second week of March.

[Michael Bush]

If you can't find her, then don't worry about it. They will raise a new one as long as both have some eggs and young larvae.

[Thad]

If you have a hard time finding the queen, here is a trick that helps. Put a queen excluder between the brood boxes and come back in 5-7 days. Now start looking for fresh eggs. Now you've isolated her in only the box with fresh eggs, and saved youself from looking through boxes. 1/2 the work!
Thad