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I almost chickened out, but I did see many queen cups - empty tho - at the bottom of frames in one super, so figured it was now or never. (These are Russians, supposedly prone to swarming.)
It was a 6 medium super hive, overwintered, there were 2 brood boxes with all kinds of larvae in them. I can never see eggs, but I figured where there's larvae, there's eggs, so I put one brood box with one hive and the other brood box with the other. I made sure both had honey/pollen stores. Tried to find the queen, but never saw her - one box has her, one doesn't.
So tell me again. LEAVE THEM ALONE FOR 3 WEEKS. Right? Don't even peek? Should I leave them longer than that?
I have a new Russian queen coming in 2-3 weeks, so I guess if all else fails, I can salvage one hive with her. If both halves of the split survive, I can start a new hive with her.
The only thing that might be a complete negative is I never moved the original hive - I just left it where it was, and set up the new hive about 6 feet away. But, they have enough nurse bees and enough stores so that even if all the foragers drift back to the original hive, they should be okay.
If this works, I will be the best beekeeper in the world. If it doesn't work, I'll be the worst.
It was a 6 medium super hive, overwintered, there were 2 brood boxes with all kinds of larvae in them. I can never see eggs, but I figured where there's larvae, there's eggs, so I put one brood box with one hive and the other brood box with the other. I made sure both had honey/pollen stores. Tried to find the queen, but never saw her - one box has her, one doesn't.
So tell me again. LEAVE THEM ALONE FOR 3 WEEKS. Right? Don't even peek? Should I leave them longer than that?
I have a new Russian queen coming in 2-3 weeks, so I guess if all else fails, I can salvage one hive with her. If both halves of the split survive, I can start a new hive with her.
The only thing that might be a complete negative is I never moved the original hive - I just left it where it was, and set up the new hive about 6 feet away. But, they have enough nurse bees and enough stores so that even if all the foragers drift back to the original hive, they should be okay.
If this works, I will be the best beekeeper in the world. If it doesn't work, I'll be the worst.