# Best time of day for split



## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

Thinking of doing a split soon to get from 1 to 2 hives. Would it be good to do it midday when the foragers are out so I get more nurse bees that won't drift? 

also, I'm trying to figure out the best combo for into 5 frame medium nuc. 3 brood, 2 honey/nectar? I will probably move the queen there so the larger hive with resources can make a new one and give them a brood break.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

Whenever you are there. 

If you can't take the new hive to an outyard many - or most - of the bees will drift. If the queen goes into that hive there will be less drift, but still a lot. Make the split up a lot stronger than you think it needs to be, and then check it in a few hours to make sure it is still strong enough. 

Or take it to another location - which is actually the easiest thing to do.


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

Yea, finding a place 2mi away isn't easy. I don't really know a place to put them for a few days. RI doesn't really have empty spaces that aren't private farms or whatever.


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

Take them to Connecticut that only about 2 miles away. :lpf:


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

Tenbears said:


> Take them to Connecticut that only about 2 miles away. :lpf:


well MA is like 10mi away  but still doesn't help me much. mostly finding a place allowed. my dad's house is in a neighborhood so i doubt his neighbors would want them on his deck even for a little bit. 

luckily they aren't in swarm mode or anything yet so i have time to think about it.


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

I split when I can and, as mentioned, toss a healthy amount of "extra" bees in the split. I rarely move the split more than a few yards away and I double check in a day or two to see how much drifting took place.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

I understand. Until this year i mostly kept splits in the same yard too - but moving them really makes a big difference. Anyone who is in a club should make a reciprocal deal with another member to each use the others yard for such purposes. It's worth the effort.


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## McBee7 (Dec 25, 2013)

If you make the split a bit light and put it in the original position, they will have enough nurse bees to take care of the existing brood plus you get most of the field bees to bring in the groceries.
And move the queen and her brood whereverr you want,,,the field bees will return to the original position for the most part but there will be enough nurses left to tend brood and you will retain a bit of the field fource and you will also have the main part of the original stores...Just my 2 cents..

==McBee7==

PS-this is if you have another queen or queen cell to put in the split---the split isn't strong enough to make its own queen reliably...


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## blueskydixon (Jul 9, 2011)

Stuffing the entrance with grass and letting them work their way out helps.


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## Beregondo (Jun 21, 2011)

I split and leave the nuc in the same yard unless there is a reason I *want* them somewhere else.

I put a frame of pollen next to the nuc wall

I put a frame of mostly open brood with some sealed brood next to it, open cells facing the pollen.
If you are giving the nuc a queen, age of the open brood is unimportant.

If you want them to raise a queen, make sure thrte are are eggs and tiniest larva on it.

Next I put a frame of mixed open/sealed brood, or mostly sealed brood.

The next (fourth) frame I put in is one that is all sealed brood, or as close to that as I have...if you can tell make it the *oldest* sealed brood frame you have. 
If you can't tell don't worry about it, any sealed will do.

Last I put an empty foundationless frame... ...you may want to use a frame of foundation.

I put the nuc wherever it is convenient, and use a feed jar over a hole in the lid to feed light syrup (2 parts water one part sugar by volume).

The sealed brood will soon emerge, and the nuc will be pretty crowded.
The undrawn frame will give them work to do and keep their minds off of swarming.

If there is a flow on and you give them a queen, you'll need to put a second box on soon...nucs go from normal to swarm preparation quickly if there is no work to do inside, or if the queen runs out of room to lay in.

So once the second box is full, you can use it to draw a comb or three a week, and replace the new comb with an empty frame when you take it out...or pull a frame of sealed brood a couple times month, replacing it with an empty frame or foundation.

Any time of day is good.

Don't worry about drifting...the reason for a gets don't drift if you split while they are in the field is because they weren't home to get moved and drift.

Feed them (with a jar or bucket feeder on top..NOT an entrance feeder!) until the sealed brood starts emerging and after that you'll have plenty of workers for foraging.

Don't worry about how far you move 'em.
But if they are right next to booming hives and there is no flow, put a robbing screen on until they are strong enough have enough guards to prevent robbing.

Have fun.
Enjoy your bees.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

This is a case where location really matters. If I did what Beregondo is describing in my yard tommorrow I can almost guarantee it would fail due to hive beetles before enough of the brood emerged to make it strong enough to defend itself. If I didn't use a robber screen it would be even worse. I don't doubt that it would work in WA though.


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## Beregondo (Jun 21, 2011)

I haven't seen hive beetles here in the year since returning to Washington, nor were there any around Elmira when I was in New York learning beekeeping.

I have no experience with hive beetles at all.


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

K... here goes nothin. split off 3 frames of brood.. one with a decent honey cap on it, 1 frame of honey, 1 partially drawn but empty foundationles (my normal hive is foundationless too) Queen in the nuc after a bit of a chase. shook another 3 frames into there. put grass and a small branch in front of the entrance. have the whole shabang on the opposite side of the house from the main hive. 

did it all with no smoke to keep the nurse bees on brood. no stings! woo quite a few smooshed when i put the main hive back together since they were pretty peeved at the world.


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

checked on things today to be sure all was good. No foragers coming out of the Nuc so i moved it back to the side of the house i'd rather them be on. about 5' from the main hive. I figure they will orient to that once the capped brood hatches so it will be fine. they have plenty of stores for now and were working on the empty frame

main hive found a queen cell being built so i moved a frame of pollen and nectar next to that for them to have quick access.


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

Woo new queen seen today and pretty sure eggs on the frame she was on too!


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## McBee7 (Dec 25, 2013)

Congrats---Beautiful--Looks like the first queen I ever say,,, Bright orange/yellow  very easy to find,,

==McBee7==


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

Yea, pretty psyched. Runny young lady.. guessing she will slow down once things get settled in more. It maybe that i only have 1, now 2 hives but i dont have trouble finding the queen when i'm looking. I did have a bunch of Where's Waldo books growing up.. maybe that was good training  

now i need the big hive to cap some honey so i can steal some. Nuc is doing great.. they have 10 medium frames and i have a 3rd level built and painted to go on soon. If i can steal some honey frames then I can take a 8 frame box off the big one and put the nuc into 2 8frames and should be good for the fall/winter. I need to build more boxes and frames haha


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