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  • From: Phil DeGuzman <phil.deguzman AT gmail.com>
  • To: "ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org" <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Swarm prevention splits?
  • Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2014 20:26:01 -0400

Ellis,

 I noticed the signs of crowding and agitation earlier this year and expected a split was possible. I read lots of advice and cobbled together a solution that was easiest for me, but encompassed a lot of best practices.

In my situation, I had a single deep with two mediums on top. Luckily I had a fresh deep and medium super (both were new with foundation installed). So I did a vertical split- I took the five left frames from the old deep and one of the old supers and swapped centered them in my new deep+super - I filled in the outside of those frames with empty foundation. Note that I kept the frames aligned as they were in the old deep+medium supers. Then in the old super, I shifted everything to the center and filled in with foundation. So I ended up with two hives comprised of a deep and a medium, each with five centered frames full of mixed brood and the mix of resources. The one additional medium from the old hive I left in place.

I fed each hive 50:50 sugar water, but they weren't really interested. It took almost three weeks before the 1/2 gallon entrance feeders were consumed. I didn't feed any more than that. Everything worked out great (so far). Both hives drew out the comb and resources built up. Last week I harvested 12 frames from the old hive and they still have plenty on board. The new split must have produced a queen because the hive still has mixed brood (judging by the various cell sizes I know I have mixed sex, so there must be a queen). 
 
Anyway, all this is to say I think you'd be fine with a split and let the new hive requeen au-natural. It is still early enough that they would do that and have enough time to build up for winter (especially if you don't mind feeding into the cold months)...and I don't know about all that spinning frame orientation business. Odds are I'd screw it up even if the scientists say you'll have 10%...or whatever percentage...more likelihood of success. All I know is that my N=1 experiment worked pretty well so far.

Phil

On Mon, Jun 2, 2014 at 6:25 PM, <ocba-request AT lists.ibiblio.org> wrote:
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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: Drone video (Just Bee)
   2. Swarm prevention splits? (Ellis Driver)
   3. Adding brood boxes (Starks, Walter)
   4. Re: Swarm prevention splits? (Liz Lindsey)
   5. new hive - no eggs_how long to wait before action?
      (Cynthia Woodsong)
   6. (no subject) (Logan Kroothoep)


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Message: 1
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2014 14:33:09 -0400
From: Just Bee <marty AT justbeenc.com>
To: Liz Lindsey <liz.lindsey AT duke.edu>
Cc: ocba <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [ocba] Drone video
Message-ID: <F0EA2B9C-CAFF-41BD-8238-C1F1A6198616 AT justbeenc.com">F0EA2B9C-CAFF-41BD-8238-C1F1A6198616 AT justbeenc.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;       charset=us-ascii

Great video!
Pictures are better than words most times.

Sent from my iPhone

On May 31, 2014, at 3:07 PM, Liz Lindsey <liz.lindsey AT duke.edu> wrote:

> Bes, or Janet, this is a little film I made of drone bee. Male honeybee. Is this what you are seeing? Much wider body than worker.
>
> <IMG_1391.MOV>
>
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
> _________________________________________
> ocba mailing list | North Carolina Beekeeping| http://www.theocba.org/
> Manage Your Subscription: http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/ocba/


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Message: 2
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 2014 22:29:18 -0400
From: Ellis Driver <ellisdriver AT gmail.com>
To: NC Beekeepers Orange County <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [ocba] Swarm prevention splits?
Message-ID:
        <CAGaqN3GeVo0oMmiNg1wST4p9bYpVMRco6i6Rc0ybS3Kp+boLow AT mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Hello!

I have a 2 deep hive that has filled one honey super and is working on the
second.  They have no mites or beetles and have been strong ever since I
got this package last year.  I noticed about a dozen swarm cells yesterday
though, and a few that were capped.  It seems like I don't have a lot of
time and i was thinking about doing my first split.

I heard you can get all the frames with swarm cells in one super and leave
the queen in the other and put them facing each other on the original spot,
then rotate.  That is my current plan but I am wondering if people have had
success with this or if i should just purchase a queen ASAP but it seems
like I might not have time.  Any input would be appreciated!

Thanks so much,

Ellis
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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2014 12:40:08 +0000
From: "Starks, Walter" <Walter.Starks AT facilities.unc.edu>
To: Orange County Beekeepers Association <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [ocba] Adding brood boxes
Message-ID: <21077C9D-040B-48E0-A7BA-05216363A2D8 AT fac.unc.edu">21077C9D-040B-48E0-A7BA-05216363A2D8 AT fac.unc.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I got several new nucs this year. They were all very strong and it wasn't long before I needed to add another deep on my 8 frame hives. Yesterday I was checking one of the new hives and found 2 swarm cells. I removed the cells but I could see that the bottom deep has a honey barrier across the top of it and in the top deep the bees are starting to draw out the foundation but I don't see any eggs.

I moved a couple of brood frames from the middle of the bottom deep to the top deep hoping to encourage the queen to move also and break the honey barrier. I'm wondering though if maybe I should have just added the new brood boxes to the bottom of the hive instead of the top in the first place? Could also use some advice for what to do if I continue to find swarm cells? The hive is building up nicely but they've only filed about 60% of the 2 deeps they are in, I'm afraid a split now would make 2 very weak hives.

______

Walter




Sent from my iPhone

------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2014 12:55:50 +0000
From: Liz Lindsey <liz.lindsey AT duke.edu>
To: Ellis Driver <ellisdriver AT gmail.com>, NC Beekeepers Orange County
        <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [ocba] Swarm prevention splits?
Message-ID: <1401713751863.78972 AT duke.edu">1401713751863.78972 AT duke.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Ellis,


Conrats on a healthy hive! Sounds like you have a lot of queens and no reason to go buy one. I'd try making a split. If you can't find original queen, then put queen cells in each split, and eggs in each as well just in case. But do try hard to find original queen, and move her to the new place. That will mimic what they're about to do naturally. Remember that the bees in the original place will have foragers coming back, and the split in a new place will not have foragers, so keep that in mind when "halving" the population. Try to get bees of all ages in both spaces if possible.


Good luck!


-Liz





________________________________
From: ocba <ocba-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org> on behalf of Ellis Driver <ellisdriver AT gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2014 10:29 PM
To: NC Beekeepers Orange County
Subject: [ocba] Swarm prevention splits?

Hello!

I have a 2 deep hive that has filled one honey super and is working on the second.  They have no mites or beetles and have been strong ever since I got this package last year.  I noticed about a dozen swarm cells yesterday though, and a few that were capped.  It seems like I don't have a lot of time and i was thinking about doing my first split.

I heard you can get all the frames with swarm cells in one super and leave the queen in the other and put them facing each other on the original spot, then rotate.  That is my current plan but I am wondering if people have had success with this or if i should just purchase a queen ASAP but it seems like I might not have time.  Any input would be appreciated!

Thanks so much,

Ellis
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Message: 5
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2014 06:29:58 -0700 (PDT)
From: Cynthia Woodsong <zynwoodsong AT yahoo.com>
To: NC Beekeepers Orange County <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [ocba] new hive - no eggs_how long to wait before action?
Message-ID:
        <1401715798.2540.YahooMailNeo AT web164501.mail.gq1.yahoo.com">1401715798.2540.YahooMailNeo AT web164501.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

I started a new hive April 5 this year.? Things were going well, population was increasing with good brood at all stages, and? nectar-pollen-honey looked good 3 weeks ago.? There was so much bustle and buzz I stopped feeding on May 24 and added a super.? Yesterday, I checked the hive and have no eggs, only a few larvae cells and some capped brood.? I couldn't find a queen, but found what look like queen cells (this is my first year, so my eye is not trained yet).? Perhaps the initial queen failed, and they are rearing another one.? Perhaps they'll sort it out.??But I want to do what I can to help.?Two questions:
1.? How long should I wait to take action?? If they are rearing a new queen, she should be in residence and laying soon, but I don't want the hive to fail while I wait.
>?
>2.? Should I resume feeding? (there are?several frames of honey, and several with nectar and pollen.
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Message: 6
Date: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 17:25:31 -0400
From: Logan Kroothoep <honeybee.3 AT icloud.com>
To: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [ocba] (no subject)
Message-ID: <818E16DD-402E-426D-8FFA-D8E13630EDDC AT icloud.com">818E16DD-402E-426D-8FFA-D8E13630EDDC AT icloud.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi, this is Logan

I need someone to tell me where i need to call if i have american foulbrood !!!
i found out today, and i think i have it.

Pleas help me,

Logan


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