Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

ocba - Re: [ocba] Optimum Time to Split Hive?

ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Orange County, NC Beekeepers

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • To: Jonathan Blitz <blitzlaw AT gmail.com>, ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Optimum Time to Split Hive?
  • Date: Sun, 08 Feb 2015 14:08:31 -0500

Blitz,

Perfect timing for the splits questions. Jennifer Keller, who manages the operations of the NCSU bee lab, will be speaking on this very topic (splits) at the monthly OCBA meeting this coming Thursday night!

My thoughts:
From the bee biology point of view, the best time to make a split is during swarming season, i.e. late March/April/May. Earlier in that range is better than later, in order to give the new hive(s) time to build up before the summer dearth. Note that it is folly to make splits too early, because you must have queens for them to be successful. It is way too early to buy queens now and way too early to raise your own & have them mate (no drones yet).

As far as techniques for making splits, come listen to Jennifer's talk. There are many ways to do it. There is no need to make splits equal; your goals should dictate what you end up with. You can either split and add a new purchased queen to the queenless division(s), or split and allow the bees to raise their own queen (ensure there are eggs/very young larvae in the queenless division(s)).
One very simple technique is to just divide the hive in two, making sure both halves contain the same proportion of eggs, larvae, pupae, bees, honey and pollen. Then you don't even need to be concerned about which side has the queen; the one that does is fine, and the one that doesn't has the makings of a new queen. Which is which is irrelevant when you do it this way.

Mold on stored comb is common/expected and not a problem. The bees will clean it right up. Why don't you set them out in sunlight first -- that will get rid of a whole lot of it too.

Randall Austin

On 2/8/2015 11:34 AM, Jonathan Blitz wrote:
Hi All,

I consolidated my two hives into one last fall when it seemed like one my
queens was lost. The remaining hive seems to have made it through the winter
well. I’m now feeding heavy syrup to get them through to the warmer weather
and first nectar flows.

When is the optimal time to split this hive back into two?

There is some mold on the drawn foundation on a few frames I pulled out from
last year, even though they’ve been kept pretty dry. It doesn’t seem like
much, and I don’t really know what to do about it. My gut instinct tells me
the ladies will clean these up just fine, but is this a bad move?

Finally, what’s the best procedure to split the hives? Is it as simple as
setting up the new hive and putting an equal number of frames in each?

Thanks to all, and we’re looking forward to a great bee year!

Best,
Blitz

What is Mystic? www.WhatIsMystic.com



_________________________________________
ocba mailing list | North Carolina Beekeeping| http://www.theocba.org/
Manage Your Subscription: http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ocba/





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page