It is not always successful, but work often enough that I keep doing it. Making sure each part has brood, food, resources to make a queen and a lot of workers.

Some methods have stood the test of time and some a just a bit qwerky – but if it works? Easiest Methodįor myself, the easiest way to make a hive split is to simply split the resources by hand. There are many ways of splitting hives and it seems that each beekeeper has a favorite. But, the break can help slow down mite population growth. Not usually enough for complete mite control. The temporary break in the colony brood cycle, provides a break in varroa mite reproduction too. Sometimes, beekeepers can used hive splitting to aid in mite control. If you are wondering when to do a mite treatment, try for a time of little or no brood. Perform Mite Treatments During Broodless Cycle Be sure to stock your hive splits with a lot of worker bees. The remaining population of the original hive will need to make make a new queen or be given a purchased queen by the beekeeper.īut, this queenless split must have the resources needed – very small female larvae or even better-fresh fertilized eggs. When we make a true split, the older queen is usually moved to a new box. A honey bee colony has the remarkable ability to replace a queen bee at the end of her life cycle – if they have the resources. Some beekeepers use the strategy of splitting hives as an opportunity to produce new queens. If your bees are all concentrated in the top box – this is an option. If you have the opportunity, a few hive splits make increase your chances of keeping all the bees at home.īy subscribing, I consent to receiving emails.Īnother technique used to ease hive congestion is reversing the hive bodies. However, we beekeepers don’t like the idea of half a colony’s population flying away over the tree tops. A natural part of bee life, swarming is a good thing as far as colony reproduction in the wild. If the colony splits itself via a swarm and you catch it – great! But what if you don’t? You have lost bees. But, be aware – this is not always successful.

By reducing congestion (bees crammed close together on the comb) in the hive, some swarms will be prevented. Reduce SwarmingĪnother reason to consider splitting your mature hives is swarm prevention. Empty hives can be refilled without have to buy replacement honey bees. By creating new colonies from existing hives in the bee yard. It is the rare beekeeper that does not experience some loss of colonies over the Winter season. Dividing large, strong hives into 2 – allows the beekeeper to increase their hive numbers. One of the most common reasons for creating hive splits is to take advantage of the bee colony’s Spring build-up. Since the process is not without risk, why take the chance? There are several reasons that a beekeeper might want to split beehives.

Bee hive split