# My fave split ever: The Cut Down



## missybee (Sep 6, 2014)

Thanks will take a look. We are thinking of doing our first splits this year. We have two horrendous big hives coming out of winter. The temps are going to be high enough, finally, we can do a good inspection this week.

The one hive is a bit nasty, does not like us to even open the lid to feed them.

Just read it going to give it a try early may with our nasty hive. 

Thanks


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## BlueRidgeBee (Jun 12, 2013)

missybee said:


> The one hive is a bit nasty, does not like us to even open the lid to feed them.


If I have a nasty hive I don’t let them self-requeen as I don’t want more of that temperament. This link is a way to split that doesn’t require finding the queen and gives you a new box of nice nurse bees so you can introduce a mated queen from a better line. And there are more types on the site in case there is a better one for your setting. 






How to make an overnight split


The overnight split is a good choice if you are unable to find your queen but you want to know where she is after the split is complete. The downside is that it takes two days to complete. Here are the basic steps: Prepare a new brood box to hold the split. The new brood […]




www.honeybeesuite.com


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## missybee (Sep 6, 2014)

We have re-queened them twice now, they just will not calm down. Not sure why they are just nasty and that was with a bought queen from a gentle line.

We acquired the hive from a friend that was moving and had caught the swarm. He did not have room for it where he was keeping his bees. So he gave us a beautiful healthy hive that is just nasty.


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## dekster (Jun 26, 2019)

missybee said:


> We have re-queened them twice now, they just will not calm down. Not sure why they are just nasty and that was with a bought queen from a gentle line.
> 
> We acquired the hive from a friend that was moving and had caught the swarm. He did not have room for it where he was keeping his bees. So he gave us a beautiful healthy hive that is just nasty.


Maybe it is environmental? You may want to try different location for that hive. I had one like this - bought a nuc from a reputable producer and it was supposed to be the gentlest bees, but in my place they turned super nasty (even before they grew into a big hive), I could not move my hand 10" over the frames- they would attack any moving object instantly. Long story short- later I split it and moved the old queen and half of bees to a different part of the yard (from shade to a sunny spot), the same bees instantly became docile. BTW other hives in the shade never turned that bad, so it is still genetics related, but environment plays a big role as well... Also at the same time I had skunks harassing all the hives, so that probably did not help either.


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