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  • From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • To: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Split
  • Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:12:54 -0500

Hey Tom,

An important consideration for when to make splits is the availability of drones to mate with your new virgin queen. Drone production is going strong at the height of swarm season, which typically is late March through May.

Another consideration is the time left in the honey flow for the split to build up into a self-supporting colony. If July comes along and the colony hasn't had time to draw a full complement of comb and put away a sizable store of honey, you'll have to feed it to keep it alive, and its chances for thriving or even surviving are reduced. From this standpoint, the earlier, the better.

A third factor is the strength of your hive. If you make a strong split and leave behind a strong donor, both should rebound nicely in short order. Your bee population should be quite strong by the end of March. Some people feed pollen (& syrup) starting in late January/early February to jump-start brood rearing to create big populations for splitting. I never have done that --- it doesn't aid my overall objectives --- but it is an option.

Timing also depends on what your goals are. Typically you can make bees (via splits) or you can make honey, but it isn't so easy to make both. Some folks manage their colonies in order to get a honey crop during the spring flow, then make splits as soon as the flow is over. But as I mentioned, you'll have to feed those splits throughout the summer and and your chances for success aren't as good. But you will serve both objectives.

Taking all this into account, I always make splits in late March/first of April.

Everybody has a different "shuffle routine" that they use for setting the boxes when they make splits. What you do really doesn't matter much --- it all works. So keep it simple. What you've described sounds a bit complicated, and moving the hives twice would be counterproductive. One wise approach is to take the box with the old queen and move it to a new location away from the new queenless split. It doesn't have to be far. The new queenless split stays in the old location. This means that the foraging bees will return to the old location, giving the new split a boost. Since the old queen is in the old box (in a new location), that hive has the advantage of not missing a beat with respect to brood rearing, whereas the new queenless split won't have any new brood for a month. So one has one advantage (a laying queen) and the other has another advantage (lots of foragers), so it sort of evens out. I usually don't bother doing it the "wise way" --- I usually start splits as nucs on a new stand, leaving the laying queen in the old spot. As long as the timing is right (as described above), everything turns out terrific. We often worry too much about details that the bees couldn't care less about.

Randall Austin


On 1/9/2013 2:02 PM, Thomas Grizzle wrote:

Hi all,

 

I live in an urban setting in Chapel Hill and have one Langstroth hive.  I plan to do a split this year, one hive into two, and have some questions. 

 

I have one deep which was started in April with a new queen and shipment of bees from Busy Bee.  They seem to be doing quite well, and today numerous (>100) bees were observed outside the hive, coming and going, arriving back with lots of pollen on their legs.  I know they have a fair amount of stored honey and I am optimistic they will make it through the winter.  I have a second Langstroth awaiting the split.  I have enough drawn comb for about 15 frames. 

 

When do “the experts” say a split should be initiated?  I am sure it is too early, but I just want to be ready.  Also, with Global Climate Change, I’d bet money we are going to have a warmer than “usual” winter, although it’s anybody’s guess what usual is anymore.  Last March was certainly very warm, and I wonder what was learned among area beekeepers with the warm weather in winter as it pertains to doing splits.  I have read a couple of books about doing splits and I think I have a feel for it.  The main thing is to try to ID the queen and keep track of her (which I have yet to have success with), try to put roughly equal frames with brood and honey into each hive, do it on a day when the bees are out foraging, and move the original hive and place it next to the new hive facing where the original hive used to be.  Bees returning from foraging are then forced to choose between two “new” hives.  In a couple of weeks both hive can be returned to their final location.  Is this all correct?  If wrong, please chime in, and certainly if I forgot something, same case.

 

My small hive beetle issue (mentioned in a couple of previous emails) has gone away at the moment.  I apparently blundered my way into managing it correctly (decreased space, strong hive, “Beetle Jail” traps), or else there never was an issue and I was needlessly worried.

 

Many thanks!


Tom Grizzle

 



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  • [ocba] Split, Thomas Grizzle, 01/09/2013
    • Re: [ocba] Split, Randall Austin, 01/09/2013

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