# Large scale spring splits with mated queens



## Sebastian_ (Jan 30, 2016)

I will recieve 500 mated queens this spring to do splits. There is so many different ways to do splits, and so many opinions on how mated queens should be introduced. I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter.

My plan is to take 2 frames of covered brood, and shake X liter of bees from the super above the queen exluder. Then make up one strong split from 3 hives (3 x 2 frames of covered brood + 3 x X liter of bees). Then feed sugar syrup and add the queens when the splits is dropped in new yards a couple of hours later (The queens will be in JZBZ introduction cages). Do you think this will work?

Even if we try to take only covered brood, there will be some eggs and larvae. Will eggs and larvae make queen introduction more difficult? Should I wait longer than a couple of hours before adding queens? Would it help to add som duct tape with punched holes on the JZBZ cages? Will it help to open up the small "queen excluder" on the JZBZ cages?


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## JohnBruceLeonard (Jul 7, 2015)

I'm most curious to hear what responses are given to this question. May all go well with your expansion this year, Sebastian!


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

Sebastian, a pretty common nucing plan over here (usually with queen cells) is to shake the bees off of your brood (making sure to there is at least some open brood) and move those bare frames above an excluder for the day. The young nurse bees will quickly migrate up and back onto the open brood. Towards evening or early the next morning remove those top boxes and use these as your nucs, bonus points if you move them to a new location a couple miles or more away, this assures there are plenty of young nurse bees. Intro your queen once they are in their new location.


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## zhiv9 (Aug 3, 2012)

The method Jim describes works well. 

I have also had success moving the hive with the queen to a different stand in the yard. Take out 2 frames of brood and a frame of feed and put them in a new box in the original location. Introduce the queen or cell the next day. Foragers go to the split.


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## GaryG74 (Apr 9, 2014)

Welcome to BeeSource! I've built nucs like jim lyon suggested and I haven't had any problems with this system. None of the nucs tried to build queen cells either. They knew they were queen less after a couple of hours and accepted the new queens quite readily. Good luck.


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## Sebastian_ (Jan 30, 2016)

Thank you JohnBruceLeonard!

And thanks for the input Jim! We did the way you describe last year. It worked well, but don´t like to go back a second time and pick up the splits (also we had some queen introduction problems, but thats an other issue). I suppose we can smoke up the bees through a excluder if we want to make it in one visit. What I like about the idea of shaking bees from the supers (if you use queen excluders as we do), is that you can use something to scope up the same volume of bees, and make them more even (but I havn´t tried this jet).


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## JSL (Sep 22, 2007)

I will second Jim's approach! It works well. A variant on that method to prevent a second trip back to the yard is to start VERY early in the morning or late in the day when the hives are still full of bees. If you are prepped and work quickly you may transfer the frames above the excluder and by the time you get to the end of the yard, go back and start pulling the frames of brood and bees. You can put a frame or two of comb in the box above the excluder too, outside of the brood. It will give the bees a little more space to gather. This works for me with populous colonies... Best of luck!


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## billabell (Apr 19, 2010)

Lot of good information on queen introduction here:

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?311486-Successful-Queen-Introduction-tips

The overnight split described by Jim Lyon works like a charm. 500 splits WOW! I hope you have lots of help. Good luck.


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## Sebastian_ (Jan 30, 2016)

Thanks for the input everyone!

I understand most beekeepers here make their splits with cells, we plan to do that as well, later in the season when there is more drones. If someone does spring splits with mated queens on large scale I would love to hear your experience. 

billabell mentioned HarryVanderPools wonderfull thread about queen introduction. At the moment that is the way we plan to do it (or perhaps we will experiment and do it in a couple of different ways).

But it still seems to me commercial beekeepers all have their own small variations. Ian mentioned in that thread that he insert the queen cage candy tube plugged, come back 4-5 days later and punch a hole in the candy. This because of the candy otherwise may be eaten to fast.

And in this thread: http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?319068-Re-Queening-at-French-Hill-Apiaries it is described how Michael Palmer use a push-in cage to let the queen begin to lay eggs in the cage, and later remove the cage after 3 days. Because caged queens often being in a non-laying condition (I suppose this often will be true when you buy queens from others, they being transported for a long time and so on. It´s certainly true about the queens I buy). In the video there is also mentioned the common way to let a colony bee queenless for about 4 days and then insert the introduction cage.

And I know another guy who always place duct tape over the candy, and make a fine incision with scalpel.

So with all variations it´s no wonder I´m confused how exactly to do this. 

So which one of these methods do you think is best when it comes to introducing mated queens to a strong 6-frame splits (with brood and bees mixed from 3 mother hives).

1)	Let the new split be queenless for 4 days prior to putting in the introduction cage.
2)	Only wait a couple of hours and insert introduction cage when dropping splits in new yard.
3)	As 2) but manually release queen after 4-5 days.
4)	As 2) but use duct tape on candy tube
5)	Use push-in cage and remove cage after 3-4 days.

And will any of these method demand that I search and destroy queen cells (I don´t like this, take to long time, and you always miss a cell). 

And is there a really good standardized candy recipe out there somewhere that works well with JZBZ queen cages to give a 4-5 days release (not 2 days, if that’s a problem).

Sorry about all the questions.


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## hex0rz (Jan 14, 2014)

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?311486-Successful-Queen-Introduction-tips


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## Adrian Quiney WI (Sep 14, 2007)

Sebastian, will these mated queens be arriving from within Germany or from another country in the EU? i am just curious, I don't remember seeing other German commercial beekeepers on this forum, and know little about the flows you follow or their timing.


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## Sebastian_ (Jan 30, 2016)

The queens will arrive from an other country in the southside of EU.


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## zhiv9 (Aug 3, 2012)

There are a lot of methods, but I think you really have to choose between having to find the queen or making two trips to the yard. I think the latter works out better from time perspective unless your yards are a great distance away.


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