Beginner Split Planning - 1 Hive

[Nbw]

Hi.

I am trying to prepare a course of action for splitting this year. My aim is to have 2 functioning hives.
I have a single hive at the moment with 1 single national brood box on.

I have watched many videos, read so much but i think I am going to be planning on the Doolittle split.

My plan-
Come spring, get my 2nd brood box out
Look for the queen, if unable to be found...
Shake the bees off 4 frames of open brood, 1 of capped brood and 1 frame of food
Place frames into new brood box.
Add QE on top of the original brood box and put the new one above it.
Leave it over night
Pull the brood box off and place a few feet away on a hive stand
Fill in any space with drawn comb or foundation
Add a mated queen to the queen-less hive


Can anyone help validate this approach?

Thanks

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

by God that's a lot of faff for a simple procedure.
If you have set your mind on a 'split', just wait until the hive is really strong and either wait for swarm preparations and take the queen away in a nuc and reduce the QC's in the hive to one ( you need to check a few times for a week)
Or
Do the same but without waiting for warm preparations, just take the queen out with two or three frames of brood and a frame of stores in a nuc and leave them build up again. Check out the main hive a few days after the split and reduce the emergency QCs to one open cell
Or the other two options are just do a 'walkaway' split. Make up a nuc with three or so frames of brood and a good few shakes of nurse bees, put the nuc somewhere else in the apiary away from the main hive then just leave them to it.
The other option is to conduct a Demarree and make increase that way
https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/demaree.46464/

 

[Garry R]

by God that's a lot of faff for a simple procedure.
If you have set your mind on a 'split', just wait until the hive is really strong and either wait for swarm preparations and take the queen away in a nuc and reduce the QC's in the hive to one ( you need to check a few times for a week)
Or
Do the same but without waiting for warm preparations, just take the queen out with two or three frames of brood and a frame of stores in a nuc and leave them build up again. Check out the main hive a few days after the split and reduce the emergency QCs to one open cell
Or the other two options are just do a 'walkaway' split. Make up a nuc with three or so frames of brood and a good few shakes of nurse bees, put the nuc somewhere else in the apiary away from the main hive then just leave them to it.
The other option is to conduct a Demarree and make increase that way
https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/threads/demaree.46464/

Absolutely right. I always think that the split is the simplest procedure for the beekeeper whether it is to make increase or to prevent swarming. I only would buy in a mated queen if you are not happy with the strain of bee you have in the parent colony or you just want to increase the genetic diversity in you apiary stock. I regularly use the old queen in a parking nuc and when the new queen is mated and laying make the decision whether to reunite and which one to keep or keep both and increase by one. It is a good idea to make two colonies as you will know (or find out) sods law is alive and well in beekeeping.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

In the end, if you want to use a new queen, order one, once then new queen lands on the doormat, make up a nuc with two or three frames of brood, a frame of stores and the rest drawn comb (making sure the queen isn't on any of them) shake another frame or two of bees into the nuc, introduce the new queen in her cage (attendants and all) with the candy covered. Put a feeder of light syrup on, then wait 24 hours before uncovering the candy.

 

[jeff33]

I would just make a small nuc towards the end of May so you don't deplete your main hive and have a chance of a small honey crop. The demaree as JBM mentioned is a good way of getting the best of both worlds.... alternatively, they may swarm

 

[user 20297]

Hi.

I am trying to prepare a course of action for splitting this year. My aim is to have 2 functioning hives.
I have a single hive at the moment with 1 single national brood box on.

I have watched many videos, read so much but i think I am going to be planning on the Doolittle split.

My plan-
Come spring, get my 2nd brood box out
Look for the queen, if unable to be found...
Shake the bees off 4 frames of open brood, 1 of capped brood and 1 frame of food
Place frames into new brood box.
Add QE on top of the original brood box and put the new one above it.
Leave it over night
Pull the brood box off and place a few feet away on a hive stand
Fill in any space with drawn comb or foundation
Add a mated queen to the queen-less hive


Can anyone help validate this approach?

Thanks

In addition to doing as any or all of the above members have recommended, put out a bait hive reasonably close to your existing. That gives you a chance of retaining any swarm that might accidentally get away from your hive as well as any random other swarm that happens to be visiting the area.

 

[ericbeaumont]

a single hive at the moment with 1 single national brood box on.

As JBM: don't add any boxes and they're guaranteed to want to swarm.

When they're rammed look regularly for good open swarm QCs. Take out the queen to a nuc as JBM described, wait until QCs in the main box are sealed, leave them one (shake bees off frames to check thoroughly, brush the bees off the one with the QC) and use others to make up a nuc or two as insurance. Close the latter and move them three miles to keep the flyers. Check all three boxes 3 weeks later for eggs.

Plenty of other choices, but I agree with JBM, your initial one sounds like too much work.

 

[Swarm]

It's the simplest way, work with the bees.

 

[Nbw]

Thanks all for the honest replies

 

[rolande]

Hi.

I am trying to prepare a course of action for splitting this year. My aim is to have 2 functioning hives.
I have a single hive at the moment with 1 single national brood box on.

I have watched many videos, read so much but i think I am going to be planning on the Doolittle split.

My plan-
Come spring, get my 2nd brood box out
Look for the queen, if unable to be found...
Shake the bees off 4 frames of open brood, 1 of capped brood and 1 frame of food
Place frames into new brood box.
Add QE on top of the original brood box and put the new one above it.
Leave it over night
Pull the brood box off and place a few feet away on a hive stand
Fill in any space with drawn comb or foundation
Add a mated queen to the queen-less hive


Can anyone help validate this approach?

Thanks

Used that basic method many times. Never had a problem with it. Only real difference is I don't tend to go through the box looking for the Queen first, just look at individual combs, isolate her if I see her or shake the bees off if I don't but if you feel happier going through first then it's not agoing to be a major issue with one hive.

Edit: word of warning having reread your original post, be careful about using so much open brood in the spring; nights get cold and it's not really what you want anyway.

 

[Poly Hive]

You are not saying at what point of strength (always judged by frames of brood note) you are starting this idea at. Nor giving your location which would help as to how to advise.

I would certainly add the 2nd brood but under not on top and run it until you have at least 18 frames of brood and take it from there. Either let them raise a queen by taking off some brood frames and put in a nuc or add a mated queen to the nuc but be aware added queens can be rejected.

If you let them raise a queen then your main hive will get a crop and your nuc might surprise you too.

PH

 

[ericbeaumont]

Come spring

open brood in the spring

at what point of strength

Yes, these are crucial factors and also variable; you'll get the green light when you see drones flying in quantity, and given unpredictable weather - even in temperate Essex - that could be anytime. One year in London we had swarms out in January, but in 2013 spring didn't start until May.

PH's plan utilises a really strong colony which is what you need for effective feeding of queen larvae. I recall that Ted Hooper, in his Guide to Bees & Honey, described the making of a nuc to produce a queen; he said that he mentioned it, but only to condemn it (on the basis that a nuc would have insufficient nurse bees to produce a quality queen).