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Author Topic: Split Hive ..... Sort of...  (Read 2080 times)

Offline alfred

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Split Hive ..... Sort of...
« on: May 26, 2013, 07:46:11 pm »
So today I went through a couple of my hives. In one of them I found several queen cells. There was a lot of brood and some larvae but I don't remember seeing any eggs. I also didn't see the queen. I was tired though so I could have missed her.

What I had wanted to do was a split but since I am not sure that there is a queen in there and also since I didn't find her I didn't want to break up the hive. So what I did was I distributed the frames with queen cells one each in three different boxes. I then separated the boxes with an excluder to keep the queen from moving around and to keep emerging queens from getting at each other. Since the drones need to get out I also made an entrance in each box. Somewhat complicated by the fact that I use top entrances.
So:

Lid
Entrance
Box with queen cell
Excluder
Entrance
Box with queen cell
Excluder
Entrance
Box with queen cell
Screen Bottom board


My thinking was that this way the workers can get through the excluders and move around while at the same time the queens are separated and also the drones can escape.

Please any feed back is much appreciated.

Alfred

Offline don2

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Re: Split Hive ..... Sort of...
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2013, 08:00:52 pm »
May be the only thing you could have done if you have only one hive. "Unless" you could have left it as it was. The reason you didn't find any eggs "may be" that the queen quits laying a few days before the first swarm emerges.
On the other hand you could have made 2 or 3 splits with queen cells in each one. You don't have to have as many bees for capped cells as you do for building cells. Two frames with brood, capped and uncapped with the adhering bees is all you need for queen cells. Finish filling the nuc with drawn comb or foundation. Then regardless of where the queen is you should end with some queens. Hope this helps.  :) d2

Offline Finski

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Re: Split Hive ..... Sort of...
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2013, 10:39:55 am »
So today I went through a couple of my hives. In one of them I found several queen cells.

Your first job is to make a artificial swarm. Put the swarm on foundations. Then swarming fever goes away. Splitting is not a right way to go.

Move the hive 10 feet
put in old site a new hive, which has one brood frame, food frame,me with pollen and the rest foundations.

Take a laying queen or if you do not find it, take a frame where is a queen cell.

Bees fly itselves to the foundation hive during two days. When they start to draw new combs, it is a sign that swarming fever goes away. If you use ready combs, often bees do not give up swarming.

Next problem is that the brood hive does not swarm. A Small cast may come out with virgin.
Read more how avoid that.

After a week join the hive parts again that it is able to forage honey. Without joining the hive are out of balance and yield will be small.

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Offline alfred

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Re: Split Hive ..... Sort of...
« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2013, 03:28:34 pm »
Thanks for your help Finsky. Please bear with me. I am not sure that I understand exactly.

Move the whole hive 10 feet away.
In the old place put a new hive with one frame each brood, pollen, honey. The rest empty foundation frames.
Then where do I put the queen if I find her? The new or the old hive? I'm guessing in the new hive at the old location....That would make the most sense to me. Is that correct?


As to the Brood , or original hive, what if I break it up into nucs. If I separate each swarm cell or frame of swarm cells into it's own nuc (or in this case medium box). Won't that stop the swarming, while also giving me a few queens?

Alfred

Offline Finski

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Re: Split Hive ..... Sort of...
« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2013, 05:28:27 pm »
Thanks for your help Finsky. Please bear with me. I am not sure that I understand exactly.

Move the whole hive 10 feet away.
In the old place put a new hive with one frame each brood, pollen, honey. The rest empty foundation frames.
Then where do I put the queen if I find her? The new or the old hive? I'm guessing in the new hive at the old location....That would make the most sense to me. Is that correct?

Yes, queen has forager and youn bees and it continues strong laying

Quote
As to the Brood , or original hive, what if I break it up into nucs. If I separate each swarm cell or frame of swarm cells into it's own nuc (or in this case medium box). Won't that stop the swarming, while also giving me a few queens?

Many guys brare all queen cells but leave one. I do not mind break them. One possibility is to put all brood frames over excluder that a new virgin cannot go with bees.

Most of cases the brood hive is so weak that it does not swarm. The first virgin destroyes other queen cells.
Perhaps 20 % makes an after swarm

To break them into nucs is a big job. I do often so that I put couple of queen cells into a cage and break others.
I may do too a nuc.

But finally it is imposrant to join the hive partst that you get honey. Bee structure must be in balance: foragers, nurser bees, honey handling, brood from where hive gets new bees. If that hive has a new queen, it does not swarm any more.
.

Alfred
[/quote]
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Online Michael Bush

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Re: Split Hive ..... Sort of...
« Reply #5 on: May 28, 2013, 02:13:52 pm »
Keep in mind that drones can't get through excluders and will clog them and die trying to get out, if there is no other entrance.  That bottom box needs some sort of exit for the drones...
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Offline alfred

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Re: Split Hive ..... Sort of...
« Reply #6 on: May 28, 2013, 03:54:29 pm »
Thanks Michael,
I had an opening for each box for just that reason, with an excluder between the boxes to keep the queens from each other.

I have since separated them all out into separate boxes.
I am working on posting a short vid of what I have done. I found Queen Cells in another hive as well. So I am trying two different experiments one with each hive.

Alfred

Offline alfred

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Re: Split Hive ..... Sort of...
« Reply #7 on: May 28, 2013, 04:47:00 pm »
So this is what I did:



split vid

Alfred

Offline alfred

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Re: Split Hive ..... Sort of...
« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2013, 03:28:04 pm »
I checked into the splits and found one emerged queen in one of the splits.
I also found a tone of Q cells in Another hive which I am in the process of splitting out as well.


split vid