timing

When the weather trend is good and you have all of the right parts. Splits are being made here in SC right now. Colonies ready for splitting have frames of honey, frames of capped and open brood, w/ pollen coming in as well as nectar.

In what part of VA is Amherst? Tidewater VA aught to be making splits now or soon. Farther up country later.

Do you have queens coming or will you let them raise their own?

I am in central Virginia between Charlottesville and Lynchburg. We have pollen coming in when weather permits...70s one day snow the next. Calling for a possible winter mix next Tuesday! The queen is laying. Haven't seen any drones yet. Saw the first ornamental cherry tree blooming today...daffodils are popping up (no dandelions yet). I'm planning on letting them make the queen.

I would wait until you have drone brood with purple eyes up to emerging before I split. They won't swarm til then and the colony is expanding faster than the splits will. It is hard to wait for me but splitting early works just often enough to encourage my impatience. No question for me yet. 8F forecast for tonights low.

You may have seen this but have a look at this....

http://www.bushfarms.com/beessplits.htm

JT

Hey Wendy
Sounds like your girls made it thru the winter. Congratulations.

I personally don't split until the blackberries bloom where I am. In the past I've split earlier several times but they all failed before fall.

That's pushing swarm time pretty hard so I try to keep the brood nest open until then.
Woody

wengeasley said:

I am in central Virginia between Charlottesville and Lynchburg. We have pollen coming in when weather permits...70s one day snow the next. Calling for a possible winter mix next Tuesday! The queen is laying. Haven't seen any drones yet. Saw the first ornamental cherry tree blooming today...daffodils are popping up (no dandelions yet). I'm planning on letting them make the queen.

Click to expand...

Same here. My one remaining colony is quite strong. I have a deep that is full of bees. On top of it is a medium that has fully drawn but mostly empty comb. There is some pollen stored, and when the weather permits I put some 1:1 sugar water on, some of which the girls are storing. By the end of this month I suspect that both boxes will be full of bees, but until the first week of April, the weather will be cold enough to keep the girls inside most days.

I am not thinking of a split, but of putting another deep with drawn comb frames from a dead-out. I will likely do that tomorrow or Saturday, weather permitting. I imagine I will splitting sometime in April, after I see some drones.

Thank you all...Im hoping for mid April now