Spring Split

[SWEET]

Hello all

If all goes to plan and the bees look to be nice and strong after my first winter , when is the ideal time to spilt the hive ? , i've read early May but wanted to dig a little further into this and make sure i give them the best chance of survival.

I intend to purchase a queen to keep things simple ( ish ) .

Cheers .

 

[enrico]

Can't put a date on it depends on how strong the hive is
I would do it as a part of swarm control.
E

 

[Beefriendly]

I intend to purchase a queen to keep things simple ( ish ) .

Cheers .

Whatever date your new queen arrives.....
I'm presuming you are going for a split with one half with old queen and one half with new queen?

 

[SWEET]

Maybe i used the wrong words.

I was simply wondering when ( what month ( ish ) ) people generally split hives after winter ( as part of swarm control and to gain more stock ) , i fully understand it depends on hive strength/health etc and wind direction .

Please don't worry , i wont split the hive before the new queen shows up in the post .

Yes , the original hive will keep 50% of said bees + old ( 2017 queen*) , the new nucleus the other 50% and the new queen ( when she arrives ) - the ones that attack me or fly away . I'm purchasing the queen rather than letting the bees raise a new one to keep things simple , but also understand they might kill the imported queen so my plans might well fail .

I'm trying to keep it all as simple as possible and it's worked thus far.

Cheers and thanks for the help .

* Assuming she is alive .

 

[Hivemaker.]

Any time from April onward.

 

[SWEET]

Cheers

 

[Beefriendly]

I was simply wondering when ( what month ( ish ) ) people generally split hives after winter ( as part of swarm control and to gain more stock ) , i fully understand it depends on hive strength/health etc and wind direction .

I'd want to see Drones being produced before any splitting and potential mating of new virgin queens. Might have drones in April down Hivemakers way, more like May in my area.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I'd want to see Drones being produced before any splitting and potential mating of new virgin queens.

He is buying an imported mated queen so does not need drones before splitting.

 

[Beefriendly]

Whatever date your new queen arrives.....

Is what I first said, then I misread his post..."maybe I used the wrong words"

 

[SWEET]

I'd want to see Drones being produced before any splitting and potential mating of new virgin queens. Might have drones in April down Hivemakers way, more like May in my area.

Never gave this much thought as buying a queen etc , but useful for future; going down the free queen route .

 

[SWEET]

Some more thoughts on this , currently I'm using a standard national BB ( with a super above which i'll be removing soon ) , i've been reading about double brood and now wondering if it would be better to simply add a new BB and foundation and let the bees fill it then use that as the split to create a new hive , or carry on and spilt the BB currently there and stick to the original plan ?

So -

Plan 1 - split the National BB creating a new Nuc

Plan 2 - add a new BB and let them fill it , remove to create a new hive .

Thoughts appreciated .

 

[drex]

As said before, it all depends on how many bees are in there and on the weather.
" let the bees tell you"

On a good strong colony, later in year, I would always prefer to add another BB, let them work on that, then just split the two boxes.

On a weak colony I would split into two nucs, if I really had to do a split.