Forgive me for the length of this post, but I have a few questions.
1. I would like to split one of my hives to do two things: increase numbers and prevent the hive from swarming. It's pretty huge already, so I'm guessing swarming is imminent. And besides who wouldn't want more hives. Can this be accomplished in the same split, or will they inevitably try to swarm regardless of whether or not I split them?
2. For the purpose of swarm control and letting them make a new queen, can I wait until they make queen cells to do the split or should I go ahead and split then let them make cells? Wondering if they make the cells for swarming if they'll go ahead and swarm anyway regardless of the split or not.
3. I want to leave the old queen in the parent hive, since she was born in August of last year. Is that cool if she stays in the parent hive, or will her swarming instincts tell her it's time to move on to a new place?
4. For putting the split together in a nuc, does 2 frames of brood, 2 frames of honey, and one frame of drawn comb (all with accompanying bees) sound adequate?
TIA folks.
1. I would like to split one of my hives to do two things: increase numbers and prevent the hive from swarming. It's pretty huge already, so I'm guessing swarming is imminent. And besides who wouldn't want more hives. Can this be accomplished in the same split, or will they inevitably try to swarm regardless of whether or not I split them?
2. For the purpose of swarm control and letting them make a new queen, can I wait until they make queen cells to do the split or should I go ahead and split then let them make cells? Wondering if they make the cells for swarming if they'll go ahead and swarm anyway regardless of the split or not.
3. I want to leave the old queen in the parent hive, since she was born in August of last year. Is that cool if she stays in the parent hive, or will her swarming instincts tell her it's time to move on to a new place?
4. For putting the split together in a nuc, does 2 frames of brood, 2 frames of honey, and one frame of drawn comb (all with accompanying bees) sound adequate?
TIA folks.