move brood box??

[Ammerbee]

I have two double brood poly hives. I seen to have tons of bees in both and just can't find either queen (one is unclipped from last year)

I found double brood (predictably) makes the whole job a lot harder, so was wondering if I make sure one box has brood, stores and pollen, if I can simply start another colony with it (put it on a floor, give it a crown board).

At the same time I can make sure the remaining box has brood etc...is that just a nutty beginners idea?

Thing is, I don't want to go through the whole Demaree process as I'm not sure shaking the bees about is all that good for them.

Thanks!

 

[kighill]

The simple answer is yes it would just be like doing an artificial swarm although the first rule of making one is "first find the queen"
It is not absolutely necessary to do so provided you have eggs.
Split the boxes and the one/two which makes queen cells should be the Q- ones.
It should be simpler to find the queen with fewer bees when next doing manipulations.
Do you have an experienced friend who may help you find and mark the queen.

 

[Bakerbee]

Im unsure of your set up. Are you saying you have 1 hive atm with 2 BB on top of each other. If that is the case yes you can perform a split. There are some important points that need to be checked first. You need to check and see how many frames have BIAS. Whether they have ample stores ect.. when you perform a split you need to make sure that theres enough of both of these so you dont split and create 2 weak hives that could run into all sorts of problems. The actual split needs to be done properly. If you are unsure of what to do i think maybe do alot of reading on the process. I have learnt you cant ever read enough or learn too much when beekeeping. The learning experience is infinete.

 

[Ammerbee]

Thanks for this - I don't have experienced friends, but folk on here seem always willing to help which is great

 

[Bakerbee]

I watch the norfolk honey guy on youtube as well as reading. He seems to be a great beek and explains each post and process hes performing really well. He has loads of posts on all sorts of topics but definitely has splits as ive watched them.

 

[Bakerbee]

Forgot to say the honeybeesuite.com is also a good reference. It is a U.S. site so you need to skmetimes remember slight differencesin temp and wording. But she has a wealth of knowledge and explains the whys also.

 

[Ammerbee]

Brill - thanks - looking today for the queens again...much appreciated

 

[Millet]

Brill - thanks - looking today for the queens again...much appreciated

The Queen is usually in the top box but that is not always the case, if you are struggling to find her which you could do with doing move the hive 20yrds away, leave them for 10 min's that will bleed a lot of bees out of the hive which will fly back to the original spot, that way they will be less bees in the hive which will make it easier to find the Queen.
I had to find 3 Queen the other day on brood + half and double brood, luckily two of them where still marked but the yellow mark from last years Queen had worn of which made things interesting, i found her eventually.
All i can say is take your time when scanning the frames and keep a eye out for those long back leg's.. Good luck.

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Just done this with an absolutely chocker dbl poly

 

[Ammerbee]

brilliant!

thanks so much!!

 

[Anduril]

https://beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=10891 Have a look at this.