MandF
Drone Bee
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2009
- Messages
- 1,207
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- London, UK
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 2
As per my other thread, my one honey crop hive started charging queen cells last weekend, so if by adding some more space it hasn't dissuaded them from wanting to swarm, I will need to do an AS on it.
With the main flow imminent, my concerns are obviously having the "new" hive with supers busy drawing foundation and raising brood over the next few weeks and not gathering and storing nectar.
Thinking about it, would it be a good idea to put a few frames of emerging brood into the new "swarm" hive, to give it a bit more of a kick start, and therefore release the foragers to forage, instead of just the one with the queen on?
I guess that would almost make it a split.
In fact, if I were going to do that, couldnt I just move out of the main hive 6 frames of brood including 1 queen cell, then break down any qcs in the main hive? I guess the question is, how much brood needs to be moved out of the main hive before the bees think they have swarmed, or need to swarm?
Thoughts/opinions/advice welcome! I am planning to go through the hive on saturday, and will AS/split then if necessary.
Thanks
Mark
With the main flow imminent, my concerns are obviously having the "new" hive with supers busy drawing foundation and raising brood over the next few weeks and not gathering and storing nectar.
Thinking about it, would it be a good idea to put a few frames of emerging brood into the new "swarm" hive, to give it a bit more of a kick start, and therefore release the foragers to forage, instead of just the one with the queen on?
I guess that would almost make it a split.
In fact, if I were going to do that, couldnt I just move out of the main hive 6 frames of brood including 1 queen cell, then break down any qcs in the main hive? I guess the question is, how much brood needs to be moved out of the main hive before the bees think they have swarmed, or need to swarm?
Thoughts/opinions/advice welcome! I am planning to go through the hive on saturday, and will AS/split then if necessary.
Thanks
Mark