Hi there,
Should i split my double brood box hives now or in spring ? any thoughts ?
Not enough information. Where are you? How strong is the colony? How warm is your weather? Is there anything blooming?
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Hi Ed, I would wait til early spring. Make sure there is plenty of honey & pollen coming in. Pick a nice warm day & try to do the split before the bees start preparing to swarm.
It all depends on what climate you’re in. In a sub-tropical zone where I am, as far as the bees are concerned, Spring starts well before our official Winter ends. Once the days start to lengthen & the flowers are producing lots of pollen, the bees start to work towards swarming.
I try to monitor the hive’s populations so I can exercise preemptive swarm control measures.
Thanks Jeff,
Apologies for the lack of info Michael.
The hive in question is somewhat strong and there is solid brood pattern. The reason i ask is one of the experienced beekeeper suggested to do it now so when spring comes the bees don’t have to content with swarming urges and can get a head start on nectar collection.
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I still don’t know where you are located. I like strong splits. If I don’t have two ten frame deeps (or four eight frame mediums) full of bees, brood and honey and if the bees are not in the spring buildup, I probably am not going to split. Even then it depends on how close the main flow is. If the main flow is imminent, I may attempt to keep them from swarming for a little longer. If the main flow is a way’s off and they are that strong, I may need to split to keep them from swarming. It’s all in the timing…
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