My hive 2 (and to a lesser extent, hive 1) is full of bees. Lots of them. Specifically, it is so full that the bees are bearding regularly each evening, despite having a screened bottom board, a vent box and an upper entrance. There are three supers on the hive, with 2 brood boxes. I also see a lot of "washboarding" on the front landing board, which I've seen mentioned is a sign of them having little to do. They've also been washboarding on the inner cover in the vent boxes, and even flying around in there by the hundreds when I peek through the vent holes. (They kinda looked like caged animals trying to escape. :-( ) We have had a week of rainy and humid weather, so maybe that's it. But I've been wondering whether this may be a sign that I should split it to avoid swarming. I haven't inspected the brood nest lately for queen cells, but intend to this weekend when I go in and try to take off honey.
Good idea or bad? By the way, I got the idea from an article in this month's Bee Culture.
-- Kris