Making Splits

[mleck]

Anyone got any good video of ways to split hives? Walk off method is probably the best for me.

[DJS]

Check out You Tube.

Good Luck

[rmcpb]

This one would have to be on the top of your list

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKTvp1lupHY

[Adrian Quiney WI]

Every time I see a video of this beekeeper I am impressed by how effortlessly she seems to get her work done.

[BigGun]

With open toed shoes too. I wouldn't.

[shinbone]

I watched the video. Those German hive look nice! Are they Styrofoam?

[Vance G]

Those epe boxes and accessories would be nice but the shipping would be killer. They are much more durable than beemax. There is a good box being made in Alberta but they are close to $20 ea and freight would be a killer.

[GLOCK]

Well if i worked with my bees like she is i'd need a epipen guess i have a lot to learn .
I'd love to work with out my ultrabreeze no way or even no gloves but my bee's know they get me every time.
Great video. Bet she has some arms on her hell i feel like a old man after watching her throw them deeps around .

[squarepeg]

here's what i did and it worked well for me. pick your best hives and try the cut down split as described by michael bush at:

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

[rmcpb]

The Bushfarms website is an incredible resource and every beek should have a good read in there.

[Acebird]

Anyone got any good video of ways to split hives? Walk off method is probably the best for me.

I like videos but I really didn't need one for this method.
Grab a box, put it here, grab a box put it there and continue until there are no boxes left.

[Cleo C. Hogan Jr]

Acebird's method will work, but, I would take one frame, from box one and put it in box two. Leave the next frame in box one. Take the next frame from box one and put it in box 2. Leave the next frame in box one. Repeat until there are no frames left to divide.. You can then close the hives and walk away.

The reason I like taking alternating frames, over just taking a full box is.... You may wind up with no viable eggs in one of the hive bodies, and the queen and all the viable eggs are in the other box. No chance for them to make a new queen.

If you can, move box 2 a considerable distance ( 2 to 3 miles) it is better, if you can't, field bees will return to box one, but, that is not normally a big problem. If I am doing several, I like to mark them, within two days you will be able to tell which one has the queen. Watch the other one closely for a week to insure they are making queen cells, and capping them. Continue to watch to insure a new queen emerges and starts laying. If this doesn't happen for whatever reason, you will need to place a new queen with that hive.

Walkaways will work as long as there is unsealed brood in the hive that doesn't have the queen, and they make queen cells, and the new queen emerges and gets mated. You do lose considerable time with this method, over splitting, (find the queen) and place a new queen with the hive that does not have the queen. Downside here is, queens cost money.

Hope this is helpful.

cchoganjr

[squarepeg]

the best method of splitting is the one that lets you accomplish your objective for making the split in the first place.

[Cleo C. Hogan Jr]

squarepeg... Very true...lots of objectives for making splits.

cchoganjr

[Vance G]

Making a split is NOT dealing cards! If the donor colony can't afford to lose a consolidated outer portion of it's core cluster, you shouldn't be taking anything from it! The same is slightly less true when making nucs from combinations of non thriving colonies. THe purpose is not to totally disorganize the bees and intentionally stress them as much as possible.

[Acebird]

No chance for them to make a new queen.

Yes that can happen but you only need to make one queen not two. Picking boxes from the top and smoking as you go is likely to push the queen into the bottom box. If you observe where the most of the brood is assume the queen is in the bottom box and put that one where the most of the brood is not.

[jim lyon]

When splitting a double deep hive the very first thing I do is set the top box off onto the bottom that you will be using for your split, divide and conquer so to speak. The queen can normally be found where there are eggs and open brood. I take a quick inventory of brood and divide it somewhat evenly and in the process almost always find the queen.

[Cleo C. Hogan Jr]

If the donor colony can't afford to lose a consolidated outer portion of it's core cluster, you shouldn't be taking anything from it!

This is absolutely correct. If a colony cannot afford a loss of its bees, and brood, there should be no split of any kind.

cchoganjr

[Cleo C. Hogan Jr]

When splitting a double deep hive the very first thing I do is set the top box off onto the bottom that you will be using for your split, divide and conquer so to speak. The queen can normally be found where there are eggs and open brood. I take a quick inventory of brood and divide it somewhat evenly and in the process almost always find the queen.

Exactly... However she can, run and hide, and just be difficult to find. If you don't find her quickly, I find it helpful to just go ahead and make the split. Mark the two boxes. Wait a couple of days and you will find her. Either put a new queen with the other one, or watch and insure they make a new queen.

cchoganjr

[Cleo C. Hogan Jr]

Acebird... Yes that will work, however there is no certainty that the smoke will drive her to the bottom. If it does, and most of the brood is in the bottom box, and you have driven her down with smoke, she will be in the bottom box with most of your brood. If boxes above does not have viable eggs, that colony is doomed.

I prefer to find her, and with experience, it is not all that difficult. But, in a walkaway, as mleck said he was very likely going to do, you need unsealed brood in both boxes because you don't know for sure where she is, and you need viable eggs in the box that does not have the queen. The only way to walk away and be sure, is to have viable eggs in each box.

Reference Vanve G.... Splitting bees is not like dealing cards, agreed, but, the best way to assure survivability, and quick groth, of a walkaway split, as mleck is considering, of both colonies is to have brood in all stages, as well as honey and pollen in each of the boxes.

cchoganjr