![]() Open the top brooder and begin inspecting your frames. It’s time to put on your best beekeeping suit and break out the smoker. ![]() You need to understand what those bees are up to inside your brood boxes. Inspect Your HiveĪs we said, overwintering alone isn’t enough to know that your hive is ready to split. Plus, it means that the weather is warmer, and you don’t need to worry so much about your smaller brood getting a chill. And the young bees that aren’t out and about will move to the new hive. Pick a nice day when the bees are buzzing about. But you should plan to split your hive about 6-8 weeks before the peak flower season in your area ( 4). The exact time, of course, depends on your location. The split colony may not have enough bees to cover the brood nest, making the entire colony susceptible to the cold. Early hive splitting is equally as bad, though. Not too shabby.ĭon’t wait too late into the season before splitting your hive because they need to build colony strength to overwinter the following season. And you get a second hive of bees, essentially for free. Also, there are several advantages to splitting your hive during this season.īy removing a significant portion of your honey bee colony at the right time, you can prevent your bees from swarming ( 3). Why spring? It is when larger colonies grow and prepare to swarm ( 2). If you want to avoid bees from swarming, always conduct your hive split during spring. But you can’t split an overwintered hive any time of year. What does it mean to “overwinter?” It just means that the hive was strong enough to survive the harsh weather ( 1). However, if the hive is young or weak, the two new hives will struggle to survive.Īlways select a mature hive that has successfully overwintered. We will separate these two boxes to make two hives out of one. These two factors go hand and hand.įor a successful walk-away split, your hive needs to have two brooder boxes. Set A Date With Your Beesįirst things first, decide which hive you will split and when you will split it. This method is excellent if you are a new beekeeper and aren’t confident with bee identification. We’ll explain the easiest way for you to split your hive using the walk-away method. It can be intimidating to decide to split your beehive, especially when there are different beehive designs or bee types. How To Split A Beehive: 5 Beginner-Friendly Apiarist Steps With our method, you don’t even need to identify the queen. Splitting a hive is easier than you think, and it doesn’t involve climbing trees like a bear. Before you wind up like Winnie the Pooh, wondering how you can get those bees out of that tree, it’s time to learn how to split a beehive. Spring is in the air, flowers are blooming, and your bees are preparing to swarm. ![]() How to Split a Beehive (With or Without a Queen) and Prevent Swarming
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