Hi all! As I’m preparing to make a split from my over-wintered hive, I’m curious… will I be able to have honey from the original hive? So for the split, I plan to take the current queen (her name is Flo), some capped brood, eggs, honey and pollen and place them in a new hive. In the old hive, I will leave eggs, very young larvae, and whatever swarm cells there might be. My question is, would I be able to take honey from Flo this year, even though she “moved” into a new home? I don’t plan to take honey from the new split colony (I think I’ll name her Elsa). Any advice? I live in Western Massachusetts, USA. Thanks everyone!
I would not take honey from a split. You are really creating a nucleus, and they need the stores until they get established.
Thank you as always, Dawn! Just out of curiosity, who would theoretically be stronger; Flo or Elsa?
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It depends on a lot of things. Like how many nurse bees and foragers go with each half. Like how many brood each has. However, if all of that was equal between the two, Flo would be stronger, because she can lay now. Elsa will have to emerge, feed and get mated. Then she will have to learn how to lay, which will put that part of the split about 4 weeks behind Flo. Just my humble opinion. 
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