[3pepper]

i am going to split my lang hive into my top bar hive . i am going to buy a queen by mail order . how long do i wait to add the queen ?
i am a newbee and have only done about 10 inspections and have never been able to spot my queen . so i may not know which hive will end up with her in it . are there any tips on figuring this out after the split .... a friend said the sound of the bees is different in a queenless hive . or should i wait a period of time , inspect and look for eggs ?
could i do the split before the queen arrives through the mail or should i wait and do the split after i have recieved her ?

thanks
stephen

 

[Ross]

Overnight will usually do it. You can wait 48 hours and see which hive is making queen cells. Just make sure they both have eggs, and make sure you remove the queen cells when you add the queen.

 

[Michael Bush]

I try for overnight (12 hours). I try not to go more than 24 because they will start queen cells.