Beesource Beekeeping Forums banner

would making a split now be smart or really, really stupid?

2K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  The Evil Chip 
#1 ·
My colony (installed in late March) seems to be doing well -- at last inspection, 8 days ago, brood box about 70% worked, and the medium above it, "sorta" being worked by the bees. The population seems to be booming now, and the brood pattern then was the best I think I've ever seen (from videos and demos). I removed the frame feeder at that time, too. Nectar flow is major now.

If everything looks good-and-drawn when I inspect Wed., should/could I consider a split? My new mentor suggests it. Per her: take 5 of the 10 frames from wall-adjacent of the brood box (or medium, if it has eggs/uncapped honey/nurse bees/etc), with or w/o the queen, place the frames into the middle of a "fresh" deep (or medium), add a frame feeder -- which I could only do in a deep, with the feeders I own -- and let The Girls have at it.

Is that sensible, or has my pitiful memory made it oversimplified? I don't want to risk making my strong hive too weak or new hive too vulnerable. Nights are getting to ~50 F lately, so I'm sure the bees aren't crazy about that.

For what it's worth: I don't necessarily care about honey harvest this year; I'm focused mostly on having a strong hive or 2 going into the winter.

Thx for suggestions/ponderings/info. The more the better at this stage. I'm really kinda baffled at how to go with this. Too many options, and I need all the "forewarned is forearmed" data I can get. "Have a plan", my mentor tells me. OK ...... that could mean having lots of sugar syrup concocted (and if not needed, would have to be kept), a deep and medium, with frames, at the ready, etc. ....... Anything else? :s :s :s

Mitch
 
See less See more
#2 ·
I would follow local mentor suggestion. I messed up many things in the first year (and continue to do so:)), but I dont regret splitting. I lost two splits in September, but still had 3 more to learn and took into winter. Had they not swarmed (and I decide to split), I could have ended up with nothing into winter.
 
#4 ·
After reading about others who had done early splits on this site and sending a few PM's I decided to make a split last year around June 1 of a hive I just bought in mid April as a Nuc. When I inspected the split I made a week later I found queen cells on 2 frames. Not wanting to waste those cells I took another frame from the original frame and made 2 3-frame nucs from the original split. All this was during our peak flow season.

All 3 hives wintered well and some have already been split again this season. If mating flights are successful my original 1 hive will become 7 before June.

If your mentor is advising to try it then have at it. It's all a learning experience.
 
#5 ·
I made splits after the flow last year. It was a lot harder getting them built up. If the hive is strong I would make it now while we are on the flow. Remove the queen and a couple frames of bees, brood and stores to a nuc. Let the strong hive make a new queen since they will have the majority of the resources.
 
#7 ·
Hi, Whisk -- I generally freeze what I don't use, and thaw as needed. My old mentor told me today he uses a spoonful of lemon juice (!) per gallon of sugar syrup to keep it viable. I'm not sure how effective that is, but ..... that's what he told me.
 
#9 ·
Howdy, Vol. I'm not certain of that. Here in eastern NC, June is (from what the old timers tell me) when the dearth begins, so waiting until then could be an issue or maybe even inviting disaster. Of course, doing it now could be too, maybe .....
 
#11 ·
I'm in roughly the same sort of climate in Virginia. And I'm very aggressive on nucs. I would caution a little patience here. You have roughly 7 frames going gangbusters, that's only 2 frames more than a standard nuc. I'd wait for another brood cycle(lets say 4 weeks) then see how they're doing. If OK, go ahead and make a split, understanding that you will have to feed both hives for the rest of the year to build them up.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top