Queen Cells - Should I split

[john1]

Hi,
I can see queen cells in the hives. Is it ok to split the hive now?
If I split, my worry is whether it is going to make the colony weaker and that can affect them in winter.
Thanks

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Hi,
I can see queen cells in the hives. Is it ok to split the hive now?
If I split, my worry is whether it is going to make the colony weaker and that can affect them in winter.
Thanks

well if you don't do something the colony will swarm and will be even weaker.
Nuc the queen with a frame of brood, food, some drawn comb and shake in a good two or three framefuls of bees, reduce the QCs in the hive to one and let them make a new queen in there

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hi,
I can see queen cells in the hives. Is it ok to split the hive now?
If I split, my worry is whether it is going to make the colony weaker and that can affect them in winter.
Thanks

JBM has it. If you’re worried about the strength of either colony going into winter you can unite them.

 

[enrico]

well if you don't do something the colony will swarm and will be even weaker.
Nuc the queen with a frame of brood, food, some drawn comb and shake in a good two or three framefuls of bees, reduce the QCs in the hive to one and let them make a new queen in there

Please note that when JBM says 'nuc the queen' he means put it in a nuc and not kill it!

 

[enrico]

Also.....on a more serious note, what do you mean by queen cells? I am not doubting what you are seeing but as a new beekeeper 8tbis easy to leap before we have all the facts!

 

[john1]

Thank you so much, I will split them.

 

[ericbeaumont]

I can see queen cells in the hives

Thank you so much, I will split them.

Hang on on, John: how many queen cells has each colony made?

 

[john1]

I opened it today and I noticed more than 6 queen cells in the entire brood box.
I could not see the queen in the hive for the past 4 weeks. So, I left 3 uncapped queen cells.
I will open the hive in a few days and check for the queen once more and if I don't find her, I will keep one the queen cells and let it hatch.
Thanks

 

[Erichalfbee]

Are there eggs in the cells? If none then they have swarmed and best just leave the one cell.