# Question!! Spring Splits



## willbasketball21 (Jun 5, 2010)

Hey guys! Quick question!! 
I'm planning doing a small split from my hives in the next couple of weeks to reduce swarms. If if make a 4 frame split from a double deep brood nest will i decrease honey production for the year? 
If so, by a signifgant amount?

Help would be greatly appreciated. 
Plan on splitting the end of March.


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## Seymore (May 1, 2009)

From my understanding - yes. You will lose honey production because you will be decreasing the bees in one hive and the hive you are creating will be focussing all its efforts (and honey) toward making new comb (presumably) and building up its stores for the winter. I have read about leaving the one hive alone till after honey flow and splitting then. That way you still have a crop. Maybe someone can direct you to more info on the timing, etc. of that.


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

Mel Disselkoen in his on the spot quen rearing advocates taking the queen and a small split and letting the original colony raise a queen. He has determined that the honey gathered and not fed to brood while a new queen is being produced, to be about a hundred pounds. He says this way, you requeen your hive, get a crop and crash the mite population and get a split. Read mdasplitter.com if you want more details. I am definately trying it this spring as soon as drones are purple eyed.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

If you don't want to decrease your honey production, then do a cut down split two weeks before the flow, or if you can't judge when the flow WILL be, then do it right when the flow starts:

http://www.bushfarms.com/beessplits.htm#cutdown


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## willbasketball21 (Jun 5, 2010)

thanks guys for the input.. i already have queens ordered for th splits however.. if i do a cutdown, that split involves the bees making their own queen correct?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>if i do a cutdown, that split involves the bees making their own queen correct? 

Not necessarily, but that is how I would do it. If you're introducing a queen, put her in a push in cage (or if you insist a candy cage with the cork in for a few days) and set her back a few days so they can recruit some field bees to forage.


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