1st Split Attempt

[italic63]

Hello again from a very nervous 3rd year beekeeper here in the North of Italy.
If you followed my previous threads you'll know that I was watching my one hive very closely determined to avoid swarming this year.
Well, the hive went from a bursting population of bees but zero QCs to about 15 cells at the last inspection on Sunday of which a couple of them quite big and already capped! I was amazed.
I took the queen on her frame full of capped brood and bees, another frame of capped brood with bees, and a final frame full of stores and bees into a new hive with Foundation to fill the spaces. I also shook in another couple of frames worth of bees.
I left lots of very young larva and eggs and open brood and the best queen cell in the original colony. The bees in the original colony are still too many in my mind but seem to be getting on with it. The bees which were able to fly also went back to their original position as per "the plan".
My question is... given that the original, queenless colony is still packed with bees, is there a chance that they will still swarm as soon as the new Virgin queen emerges?
Should I take more nurse bees out and move to the new queened colony?
Thank you again for your help

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

My question is... given that the original, queenless colony is still packed with bees, is there a chance that they will still swarm as soon as the new Virgin queen emerges?

doubtful - they are now queenless with but one queen cell, they will wait uyntil she is mated and laying, and by that time a lot of them will have died

 

[enrico]

You can never have too many bees. They will regulate the numbers but if they think they are getting over crowded it can be a signal for them to start swarm preparations. The obvious answer is to give them more room. Remember though, if 1000 bees are emerging every day then 1000 bees are dying every day. As JBM says, You now have a space that will go on for longer than you think until you have a new queen laying, numbers will reduce naturally. Make sure you don't keep going in incase you damage the only queen cell or disturb the queen when mating. Now is the time to be patient and make a careful record of dates that things could happen if all goes well! Good luck

 

[ericbeaumont]

went from a bursting population of bees but zero QCs to about 15 cells at the last inspection on Sunday of which a couple of them quite big and already capped

Home often do you check the brood box?

 

[italic63]

You can never have too many bees. They will regulate the numbers but if they think they are getting over crowded it can be a signal for them to start swarm preparations. The obvious answer is to give them more room. Remember though, if 1000 bees are emerging every day then 1000 bees are dying every day. As JBM says, You now have a space that will go on for longer than you think until you have a new queen laying, numbers will reduce naturally. Make sure you don't keep going in incase you damage the only queen cell or disturb the queen when mating. Now is the time to be patient and make a careful record of dates that things could happen if all goes well! Good luck

Thanks. Makes sense. Should I move more bees to the queened colony or just leave them?
Thanks again

 

[enrico]

Thanks. Makes sense. Should I move more bees to the queened colony or just leave them?
Thanks again

They should be fine from the information you have given. It depends how quickly you want them to build up.

 

[italic63]

They should be fine from the information you have given. It depends how quickly you want them to build up.

Oh I'm in no rush. Just wanted to ensure the queen had enough bodies around her

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Thanks. Makes sense. Should I move more bees to the queened colony or just leave them?
Thanks again

just leave them, they will build up quickly enough

 

[Do224]

I left lots of very young larva and eggs and open brood and the best queen cell in the original colony.

Isn’t there a likelihood that they’ll make additional queen cells using the young larvae and eggs?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

you just go back in a few days later and take down the additional emergency Queen cells

 

[italic63]

I had a quick look at the nuc today, a week after splitting them and couldn't see any evidence the queen has begun laying in her new hive.
Is this normal?
Any advice welcome.
Thanks

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'd have a quick look in the other half then

 

[italic63]

Sorry... Found the queen and she was quite active moving quickly across the frame just no evidence of her having laid anything.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It sometimes takes them a while to settle down - it also depends on how many bees are still in the nuc, they may have slowed her down for a while while they build up stores and the remaining brood emerges

 

[italic63]

Looks like they are getting ready to swarm despite me splitting them. I think a virgin queen has emerged and they are off. Exactly the same day as last year and the year before.
I knew that still didn't have enough space after splitting them and should have acted on it .
Any advice. Like previous years they will be off in a day or two.

 

[Erichalfbee]

That doesn’t look like an imminent swarm to me. Look at all those bees fanning at the entrance. You have a virgin out in a mating flight.

 

[italic63]

That doesn’t look like an imminent swarm to me. Look at all those bees fanning at the entrance. You have a virgin out in a mating flight.

Thanks for the quick response. Just so I know... What's the connection between bees fanning and the queen's mating flight? How can you tell?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Or they may just be too hot.

 

[italic63]

It's 23 degrees and overcast here at the moment which is quite cool for this time of the year.
Last couple of years they've swarmed exactly around May 5th - 10th...

 

[Erichalfbee]

I can’t enlarge the video on my phone. Have a look if those bees have nasanov glands exposed.