How many splits?

[akaneo]

How many splits do y'all recommend from one great hive a year? Or how many splits have you made from one hive in one year?

This year after loosing 3 hives I was down to one and I took 5 splits from it making my total to 6 hives now and I could get another 2 or so but I am out of equipment.

Richard

[IndianaHoney]

If you can overwinter nucs, you can make sixteen from one. In early spring you split into 4 nucs, giving two frames of brood each, and a minimum of two frames of honey. Then in early July, you do the same thing again, but this time you can give a queen cell. Then feed and let them build up to a full deep. Then overwinter with a candyboard, and a pollen patty. If done right, you can get around 70% survival.

[tecumseh]

the first question I would ask myself is do I want large numbers or do I want greater numbers plus a honey crop?

how you decided to provide/produce queens for the splits would have a lot to do with the maximum possible number (increase) in any given year. it is just a math thingee...

the harder you split the greater the loss rate, although a good nutrition plan will counter this somewhat.

I 'could' split here twice in a given year... once in the spring and again in the fall. feeding of any fall split would be essential to see any success.

likely the maximum splits I have ever done on a given hive are well fed two story hives in the early spring. I typically can split these 6 ways. the maximum number of split is totally dependent on adult bee population, frames of brood and frames of feed (a number of southern wintering northern beeks accumlate frames of honey which allows them to boost this maximum split number).

[Michael Bush]

http://www.bushfarms.com/beessplits.htm#howmanysplits

Every hive is different. Every year is different.