Mid April Splits

[Do224]

Is mid April two early to be making splits and expecting the bees in the new colony to rear a new queen? Will drones be about when she needs to mate? I presume it depends on the weather, but as a general rule of thumb...

 

[Boston Bees]

It depends on the weather.

But as a rule of thumb, that would be a bit early for me. There's no rush!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Is mid April two early to be making splits and expecting the bees in the new colony to rear a new queen?

A hell of a lot too early, regardless of where you are (in the UK anyway.

 

[pargyle]

Is mid April two early to be making splits and expecting the bees in the new colony to rear a new queen? Will drones be about when she needs to mate? I presume it depends on the weather, but as a general rule of thumb...

They will probqbly start to split themselves sometime in May or June - watch for queen cells and AS when you see them. The queens from swarm cells always seem a better bet to me than those you get just by splitting colonies. If you want to make increase look up demaree - plenty of threads on here and a really good sticky.

 

[drex]

They will probqbly start to split themselves sometime in May or June - watch for queen cells and AS when you see them. The queens from swarm cells always seem a better bet to me than those you get just by splitting colonies. If you want to make increase look up demaree - plenty of threads on here and a really good sticky.

Exactly. Let the bees tell you. They know what is best, and often end up thwarting my plans anyway.

 

[Mint Bee]

In a good year with a warm consistent spring and a rapid build up I've had queens successfully mated in early April. But this would be an exception to the norm, and I'm best part of 300 miles south of your location. Needs a good population of mature drones. If weather turns cold and wet the virgins will not get mated and then both sides of the split will have been weakened for no benefit.

 

[Sanntos]

No supers on in april, and you can feed them and treat for varroa, so they have a boost after splitting. But timing is the tricky part

 

[JamezF]

a warm consistent spring

That'll be where the problems start, right there.

Never mind a consistent season. I'm not even sure when we last had a consistent week.

James

 

[oliver90owner]

One does not keep bees by the calender. Shirley, this last autumn/winter has ably demonstrated that?

 

[Curly green finger's]

Aye I agree, early May last year was cold queen rearing didn't start untill the end of May with me, there just wasn't enough drones around.

 

[Ian123]

Splits made in mid April will probably be mating in 2nd week of May. Realistically there’s plenty of drones in my area by then. As mentioned above though weather can be so unpredictable around then, in my area that’s more the issue rather than lack of drones. Last April got off to a good start and then turned cold for weeks. Your really just taking a risk pushing it so early if you don’t have to.

 

[madasafish]

Cumbria is c100miles North of us. I speak regularly to a friend there and generally weather there mirrors here - not exactly. But usually if it's raining here, it's raining in Cumbria.

Spring - April- was cold and wet last year. We had a little snow. Queen rearing started 29th May when drones were available in bulk AND the weather was drier.

Last year was poor for mating due to weather..

April in Cumbria? If we have a warm dry Spring. And lots of drones.
Are you feeling lucky?

In other words , unlikely but I have no idea.

 

[Ian123]

There’s a number of UK queen suppliers who offer queens from mid/late May, so it’s clearly possible. I’ve had some good seasons with early queens and some very poor ones!