If a booming hive has 12 queen cells, they are about to swarm. I would do a cut down split asap. You probably do not want to leave more than two queen cells in the parent hive, or they may swarm anyway.
Shane
If a booming hive has 12 queen cells, they are about to swarm. I would do a cut down split asap. You probably do not want to leave more than two queen cells in the parent hive, or they may swarm anyway.I've been reading about cut down splits and feel this is the answer for a good honey crop as we'll as a preventing swarming. This hive already has 10 or 12 queen cells in progress. They are not yet capped but they will be in the next couple of days. My question is this. Should I go ahead and do the cut down split? The temps are around mid 60's in the day and mid to low 40's at night. Is this too cool for a split?
Yeah, I would definitely move the queen and a few frames of bees to another location. Leave the old hive in the same location for the foragers to return to.Split out the queen! If there is enough brood, maybe 6 or more deep frames. I would make 2 or 3 frame nucs, basically split-out the entire hive. You won't have a harvest but will effectively increase your hive count.
yeah, doubt it.Yeah, I would definitely move the queen and a few frames of bees to another location. Leave the old hive in the same location for the foragers to return to.
If you leave only one or two queen cells and as many bees as possible in the old hive, I think you may get a harvest, too.
This has been my experience also. The brood break frees up a lot of bees to become field bees.Yeah, I would definitely move the queen and a few frames of bees to another location. Leave the old hive in the same location for the foragers to return to.
If you leave only one or two queen cells and as many bees as possible in the old hive, I think you may get a harvest, too.