![]() ![]() I’ve broken down how to do a beehive split for swarm control purposes into six easy-to-follow steps. A thriving colony (no point in splitting a weak one)Ħ Steps to Splitting a Hive with a New Queen for Swarm Control Purposes.Queen (for splits that do not have a swarm cell).They do this by splitting the existing swarms and providing them with a new queen.Īll splits are risky, and sometimes the new colony is unable to raise a viable queen, but if you do it right, you have over a 50% chance that it will be successful. Make up for Empty Beehives and Lost Coloniesĭespite the declining number of colonies in the country, every season, beekeepers are able to populate some of their empty hives. Ideally, your virgin queen will be taken care of in a nuc hive, which usually holds about 5 frames. These queenless hives usually comprise of nurse bees, some brood, honey, and pollen to keep them fed until some of the brood emerge to take over nursing duties leading to the graduation of nurse bees to foragers. When you begin to rear queens, you will need to have swarms that can adapt your virgin queen before you find her a permanent residence. ![]() Once you notice the presence of these swarm cells, the split should be done as soon as possible. Swarm cells are queen cells found at the bottom of the frame, so they are quite easy to spot. You’ll notice that the hive will be very populous, and there will be one or more swarm cells in the brood box. The bees should be exhibiting those itching signs. When it comes to splits for swarm prevention, you need to time it almost perfectly. Discovering these is an indication that a hive is getting ready to swarm. These factors will significantly impact the likelihood of your split being successful.Ī swarm cell found in the brood box. ![]() Regardless of how you split a beehive, to be successful, there are several factors you must first understand. Splitting a hive can be accomplished with or without a new queen, which you’ll soon discover. That’s when crafty beekeepers use a little deception method and perform what’s referred to as a hive split so that both the bees and beekeepers get what they want. The downside of natural splits is that you have no guarantees that the newly exited queen and her entourage will want to make their new home in your apiary. It likewise helps to expand the gene pool of the honey bee as new queens can mate with drones from different colonies. When the colony splits, it allows for bee pollination services to expand their outreach. Every time a new queen emerges, the old queen would probably just fight her to the death, and the victor (in this case, Victoria) would continue to lead the subject in the same hive. Without it, the bees wouldn’t have existed for as long as they have. Hence, many beekeepers are curious about how to split a beehive. Swarming is a natural way that colonies multiply. To split a bee hive is like artificially inseminating a colony. ![]()
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