Wait on local knowledge from @Semaphore Jack but on the Sunshine Coast Qld I had signs of two hives that were getting very over crowded so on the first lift to 22C and no wind I have done splits. It has been a very mild winter here.
The commercial bee keeper a couple of months back was working on what is normal but it seems Jack is finding the winter there is not as cold as usual for this time of year. I would think the comment about August was just a generalization.
Regards
Thanks @Peter48 I have bought a second flow hive for this spring, so weighing up opening the brood to try and get a good honey crop this year and stop swarming, I left the flow super on over winter and have not inspected since 30th April but the winter has been dry and mild with lots of foraging most days and pollen coming in. I will split later in the spring to get a colony for the second hive. As this is only my second year I am not to sure on timing for swarm prevention and also increasing colonies.
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Hey Anthony, I do hive checks weekly and brood checks every second week so that I know the status of each hive and I can know what to check on doing for the next inspection and be on top of any issues.
Doing an inspection 3 months ago there is so much can happen in that time like an infestation of SHB, wax moth, the hive swarming or starving from a dearth and you would be none the wiser.
If your flow super has any frames full and sealed It would be wise to extract that honey so that foraging bees have somewhere to store the honey. Remember busy bees are happy bees; idle bees are much more likely to swarmā¦
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Hi Jack.
Iām also seeing lots of pollen and stuff coming in, yet, my Arnia scales tell me most hives are hardly maintaining their weight up here in the mountains. The bees look hugely busy, but donāt end up storing a lot. Breeding is likely up though.
The beach hives look just as busy, but gain weight quickly.
What I am saying is, they may look real busy, but how much they store you can only find out by looking inside.
The different locations, just half an hours drive between 3 apiaries, yield such different results while the bees display similar activity. Stunning really.
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It sounds like he was just about spot on- last year I started my inspections after the start of spring- the first few week of September. For one hive that was too late- and it swarmed.
I am thinking if the weather is warm and sunny I will start inspecting around the 2nd week of August. Today the hive I moved last week is back in full swing bringing in the steady streams of yellow pollen. I think all that pollen coming in could mean the population is about to explode- I kind of hope so.
As for making your split: if your hive is very strong late in August you could probably make it around then. It will be the perfect swarm control measure and the split will have a good chance to expand rapidly over early spring. Chances are you will find frames full of honey at the edges of your brood- one of these and two frames of brood- with a few cupfulls of extra bees shaken from your flow super- will make a very nice split. It will free up room in the original hive for more brood- and give them work hopefully allaying any swarm impulse. If you canāt locate your queen and she ends up in the split- the original hive should be able to make another one and get back to business pretty quickly.
basically I will be chasing less swarms this year and making more splits.
@Peter48 thanks for the vote of confidence but there is no way I am nearly as knowledgeable as the commercial beek we had speak at the society. The way I pontificate it may seem like I have been doing this for years but I am only in my third season! I do like to think I am a fast learner though 
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I was only advising him to wait on you for what the local conditions are Jack, and not saying you are the great Messiah in bee keeping. I figure you have a pretty good idea what is going on there and knowing local knowledge is like gold in the bank.
To be in your third year and lasted with some sanity left you are doing ok mate. Good bee keeping is about observation and figuring out what we see and the cause of it and a big dose of making good decisions or leaving well enough alone.
Regards
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Just throwing it in here, my hives bring in plenty of pollen, most of it acacia fimbriata, not a great source. And some pollen of my herb gardens.
So while they look real busy, the hives are still loosing weight and are eating their stored nectar. Dang.
Actually, I see no reason yet to get into their nice warm brood boxes. I know via sensor they have brood.
I keep feeding my nucs and keep watching my supered hives.
I just thought of a strategy (a bit tongue in cheek). Maybe we could provide our colonies with plenty of ventilation so we can lock them in for 2 days, then open them up for one day. Keep that going during the swarm season.
That would certainly slow the population growth with only 1/3 of the food coming in.
My bees are just going mental at the moment. By the end of July, Iāll be out of every available frame at hand. That shouldnāt happen until the end of Sept./Oct. in a normal Spring.
Iām seeing countless full frames of sealed brood. Sealed brood turns into nurse bees that turn into population exploding bees, itās scary.
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Another possible option is to just let them swarm.
I would not purposely let them swarm. First you lose a free hive of bees and second, many swarms donāt survive as there are only so many places they can form a hive in and most of those are taken.
Cheers
Rob.
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That sort of option is not the best choice for you, your neighbors or the bees. Gee, Bubba, I hope you were jokingā¦
I know it is not the best choice. The OP said he has all he wants and does not want more. I personally like making splits and nucs. Bees swarm all the time in nature and in captivity. Probably his best option is to find a local beekeeper to work his hives on some sort of split. He gets the excess hives and excess honey. In my area south Louisiana I catch about 20 swarms a year in swarm boxes. Many others catch the same or more. Swarms are everywhere in nature so it is an option unless he lives in populated area where the bees love to move into someones house.
Letting a hive swarm is not what I would do, I am in mid-winter and already have most of my splits this Spring sold. That is a part of pro-active hive management. I agree that in the wild bees swarm but I have not a swarm in my apiary so far, that happening is like flushing hard earned money down the toilet, not to mention getting my neighbors and local authorities off side.
Regards
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