# Help! Splits invested



## Fishwest (Jul 12, 2015)

I did a split last week and put a new queen in with a frame and a half of brood with nurse bees.
They were doing great last check on Saturday. Today opened up to check and all but a few bees dead, and lots of shb present.
The queen was still in the hive running around alone. I caught her and caged her back up.
If I do another split how do I combat this?

Infested not invested!


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

Give them more bees! They need bees to defend the hive, SHB can overtake a week nuc in no time.


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## Fishwest (Jul 12, 2015)

Thanks ten bears
I am sure I didn't put enough bees in the hive.
I saved the queen and if she is still ok tomorrow I plan to try again from another strong hive I have.


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## Eikel (Mar 12, 2014)

Amen, more bees, less space


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Compress the hive. Remove any unoccupied comb and put it in a plastic bag in the freezer. Try to get them into less boxes. Shake bees into the box you are leaving.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesspace.htm


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

Was the split in the same area as the parent hive? For best results if you keep them in the same area, the spilt should get the foragers or most may drift back to the parent hive and you're left with not many bees left in the split.


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## DerTiefster (Oct 27, 2016)

Comments from a newbie with more reading than experience. But it seems reasonable to me:

Hive bees chase beetles, but beetles hide/dodge. Hive beetles lay eggs, and beetle larvae destroy colony underpinnings, eating stores and brood both. BUT, suppose there were a Freeman beetle trap at the hive base. Then the beetles upon hiding below the screen from the pursuing workers would fall into the oil or soapy water and drown. Each beetle need only be chased downstairs once, instead of multiple times. This _seems_ to me to be a path to reducing the work load on the hive patrol bees and keeping the fewest alive-to-reproduce beetles on-site.

I'd appreciate comments on this, as I'm learning, too. I _do_ have Freeman traps on most of my hives, but not the nucs (yet).

Michael


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