# Doing a walk-away solo at night?



## rookie2531 (Jul 28, 2014)

I wouldn't grab a box and pick it up at night,,,no way!!!


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

If you like bees crawling up your pants leg it is great! Walk away splits work best when the split is moved to another location at least 2 miles away! If you leave them in the same yard where you have to manipulate them to maintain field forces, then they really are not walk away are they!


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## pjigar (Sep 13, 2016)

I have done walkway split in first year hive twice in the season (in the same year, few feet away). Each time the queenright hive bee population is about 2/3 of the queenless hive due to field bees moving to the queenright hive. I kind of like it the way population splits so I can keep splitting the doner hive sooner rather than later again. 

Now robbing is another story. The weak hives are prime suspect for robbing. FYI: I feed the queenless hives after split.


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## tanksbees (Jun 16, 2014)

I like doing splits at dusk. But not at night


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

pjigar said:


> I have done walkway split in first year hive twice in the season (in the same year, few feet away). Each time the queenright hive bee population is about 2/3 of the queenless hive due to field bees moving to the queenright hive. I kind of like it the way population splits so I can keep splitting the doner hive sooner rather than later again.
> 
> Now robbing is another story. The weak hives are prime suspect for robbing. FYI: I feed the queenless hives after split.


 No you have not! Here is why! A walk away split was utilized so people who had trouble finding queens could reliably split hives without finding the queen. The hive was split into two hives. Each hive was given equal amounts of eggs, young brood, mature brood, stores and bees. The beekeeper then walked away and left the bees to do their thing. The reason I said is was best to move the split to another location is because when a walkaway split is done one may not know which hive contains the queen and thus the queenless hive may not be in the original location and may loose all the foragers to the parent hive. 
I am not saying your technique is flawed, as many beekeepers use it including myself. However, they really are not walk away are they?


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

tanksbees said:


> I like doing splits at dusk. But not at night


:thumbsup: Me too, works well. Keeps bees in place over night so they get more used to the new situation.


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## rv10flyer (Feb 25, 2015)

I move hives at night if able to screen off with a little smoke. I shoot swarms out of trees with slugs at dusk and they walk right in my nuc that is lit up like the White House. I don't do walk away splits day or night. You had better watch those sneaky little bees at night, as they move quietly through any hole they can find.


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