# was my walkaway split done incorrectly?



## mlanden

It just hit me: could it be that the reason I'm not seeing much activity outside my walkaway split (a brood medium merely removed from its motherhive a week ago) -- despite there being lots of bees inside -- is that mostly _nurse bees_ are within, and I didn't get many foragers when I made the split? I didn't "dump" any extra bees into the brood medium when I separated it from the motherhive (to account for drift-back). A big mistake? 

Also: I probably should feed the new split, but need to keep the entrance reduced as much as possible; a Boardman feeder, then, won't apply, and I don't have any kind of medium-based feeder. Ideas? Or should I call off the experiment before SHB's overwhelm the walkaway and just return it to the motherhive?


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## Aroc

Do you have the ability to make a 2 inch shim to put on top? If you do sometimes people will put a ziplock bag with a couple of holes on top laid out on the top bars.

Otherwise sounds like you did fine. Usually you won't see much activity until a queen starts laying....at least that is my understanding. I've done a couple of splits and have noticed very little activity for a period of time.


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## mlanden

Aroc said:


> Do you have the ability to make a 2 inch shim to put on top? If you do sometimes people will put a ziplock bag with a couple of holes on top laid out on the top bars.
> 
> Otherwise sounds like you did fine. Usually you won't see much activity until a queen starts laying....at least that is my understanding. I've done a couple of splits and have noticed very little activity for a period of time.


Thx, Aroc -- I should've had enough sense to remember having seen that in some lit I've read (oh, about a million times). May do it. I don't know if this'll be an issue, but I've been pouring a cup or 2 of sugar water into an empty birdbath to see if the bees from my yard go to feed. They do, and lots of 'em. I figured if the girls're hungry, they'll have a food source (our dearth, I'm told, has started). I keep the "bath" atop a deep trash can lid filled with water so no ants're getting in. I haven't seen many flies or other vermin yet, either.


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## Saltybee

Works better to move the old hive and leave the split. Capped and open brood in the split?


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## mlanden

Saltybee said:


> Works better to move the old hive and leave the split. Capped and open brood in the split?


Yeah -- the brood medium I took from the motherhive had all the works - honey, brood, capped/uncapped stuff, etc .....


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## Steve in PA

Sound like you are doing everything right but feeding. I make mine up and then take them to my mating yard at the inlaws. For the 1st week they are quiet but it progessively picks up until I bring them home in a month. I give them a pint of 1:1 syrup to get started and have never had one fail (just jinxed myself).

The queens from there have been my best queens so far.


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## JWPalmer

I leave mine in the same yard. The foragers will all return to the donor hive, leaving only nurse bees. They will not leave the hive to use the open feeder. You can put a mason jar feeder through an inner cover, 2-7/8" hole, and put another medium body around it. There will be no activity for several days and then a very little for the next week or so. You may need a robber screen as there will be no guards at the gate so to speak. Otherwise, you did fine. Check back in a week to see if they made cells and then wait. Be sure to mark your calendar so you know when the queens should emerge, harden off, go on their mating flight, and return to lay eggs. I sometimes forget and jump the timeline, disappointed, only to find eggs the next week.


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## mlanden

JWPalmer said:


> I leave mine in the same yard. The foragers will all return to the donor hive, leaving only nurse bees. They will not leave the hive to use the open feeder. You can put a mason jar feeder through an inner cover, 2-7/8" hole, and put another medium body around it. There will be no activity for several days and then a very little for the next week or so. You may need a robber screen as there will be no guards at the gate so to speak. Otherwise, you did fine. Check back in a week to see if they made cells and then wait. Be sure to mark your calendar so you know when the queens should emerge, harden off, go on their mating flight, and return to lay eggs. I sometimes forget and jump the timeline, disappointed, only to find eggs the next week.


Appreciated, JW -- good ideas, too. I think I now have some things to go on instead of panicking over seeing some SHB's .....

Mitch


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## tech.35058

I usually feed through the top with a jar feeder also. When I had italians, the robber screen was a must, especially during the dearth.


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## JWPalmer

Toss a beetlebaster in there as well if you are seeing SHBs. The mating nuc is not strong enough to keep them in check so you must either trap them or go in and crush them. I generally find three or four and am trying out the BB now to see how it works when there aren't that many bees to chase them around.


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## Michael Bush

The foragers won't stay anyway, so you didn't make a mistake not including them. They would return to the old location


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