Too cold to split?

[dgc1961]

I am wanting to do a split and am wondering what the night time temperature needs to be before I do a split?  I am in the Triad Area of North Carolina.  Would it be ok now to do a split?

[T Beek]

A week or two before a main flow is what you're waiting for.  What's getting ready to bloom in your area?

thomas

[dgc1961]

We have dandelion, Sumac and Clover blooming now.  Tulip Poplar starts around April 25th.

[T Beek]

Wow, what lucky bees you have 8-)  Depending on "WHY" you want to split is the next question.  That said, conditions appear in your favor. 

I'm still waiting on maples and bleep willows :) to get moving.  Check out the splitting advise on Michael Bush'e site.

thomas

[VolunteerK9]

Drones is what I looked for, in particular if you want one of the splits to rear their own queen. You can always feed syrup and pollen but it all for naught if you dont have a mated queen. I split a hive this past weekend,you should be safe if you have significant drones being reared.

[Michael Bush]

I would make sure you have two deeps (or four eight frame mediums or three ten frame mediums) and drones flying.  That way you can make a strong split that won't have to struggle to get going.

[BjornBee]

If you see drone cells in the final stages of development, go ahead and make the splits. It will be another 15 to 18 days until the new queens take their first mating flights.

If you do splits, just make sure they have enough bees to cover the brood and overcompensate for drift if your splitting and keeping them in the same yard. I split about 70-30. Meaning I move the old hive, the old queen, and 70% of the bees on the frames to the new location in the same yard. This will allow a portion of the bees to fly back to the old location where 30% remains and boost their population with the new queen.

[sc-bee]

Bj
Thanks for the above description! I usually have a different yard to carry splits to but lately have used same yard.