It’s always put out there that splitting a colony is something that needs to be done each year as a preemptive swarm control, something I took on board when I began keeping bees and did to each colony in Spring and sure enough no swarms. Great result. But did the honey crop suffer as a result?
Last season I took another approach with frame manipulations. No splits just removing the outside honey frames and adding wired foundation in the brood nest. Result, no swarms and a bumper honey crop.
Once again there are many factors that come into play. Perhaps it was just a good season? Perhaps the queens were young?
This year I will only split IF I see signs of swarm preparations, I will still do frame manipulations but I will not split because someone says I need to split or they will swarm. Preventative not preemptive.
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