Hive Splits… How, When, & Why?

But First… How about this Swarm Season?!
Between Beverly Owens, Gunther Heyder, Ed Sanders, Anne Evans, Denise Deacon, & myself – We’ve clocked 10+ in the past week alone, with two more yesterday! I will be sending out an email about Swarms in the coming week, that maps out some useful details. 


Below is a simple overview of Splitting Hives. I’ve included the links towards the end for more in-depth reading, as well as some useful photos of frame configuration when making splits.

What is a Split…
“It is a simple process of taking 1 honey bee colony with a large population and dividing it into 2 or even 3 complete smaller bee families.

When done properly, both “halves” of the colony will grow into productive beehives.

Splitting a hive is relatively easy to do but you have some important things to consider first. This is an activity most often approached by a 2nd-year beekeeper and beyond.”
 
When should I Split… 
Early to Late Spring.
 
Aim to split your hive if they are large and healthy BEFORE they make swarm cells, if too late- split well before they cap the swarm cells, making sure the original queen is in hive without any swarm cells.
 
I’ve also heard of end-of-summer splits specifically as a mite treatment… Once I compile my notes on this, I will share.
 
How to Split…
These are just individual concepts more so than a particular split.
 
An even split. The concept is that the results will be two somewhat equal hives as a result. You take half of everything and divide it up. If you face both of new hives at the sides of the old hive so the returning bees aren’t sure which one to come back to. In a week or so, swap places to equalize the drift to the one with the queen.
 
A walk away split. The concept here is just that you don’t add a queen, you let the queenless colony raise a new one. Make your split but don’t add a queen anywhere. Do something to make up for drift. Usually I shake in some extra nurse bees (making sure you don’t get the queen), put the lid on and walk away. Come back in four weeks and see if the queen is laying.
 
Flyback split. This is a new term I’ve only seen in since about 2018. The concept is simply that you do a split and the foragers all fly back to the old location.
 
Swarm control split.
Ideally, you want to prevent swarming and not have to split. But if there are queen cells I usually put every frame with any queen cells in its own nuc with a frame of honey and let them rear a queen. This usually relieves the pressure to swarm and gives me very nice queens. But even better, put the old queen in a nuc with a frame of brood and a frame of honey and leave one frame with queen cells at the old hive to simulate a swarm. Many bees are now gone and so is the old queen. Some people do other kinds of splits (even walk away etc.) in order to prevent swarming. I think it’s better to just keep the brood nest open.
 
A cut down split.
The concepts of a cut down are that you free up bees to forage because they have no brood to care for, and you crowd the bees up into the supers to maximize them drawing comb and foraging. This is especially useful for comb honey production and more so for cassette comb honey production but will produce more honey regardless of the kind of honey you wish to produce.
 
Benefits of Splits…
Swarm Prevention – makes them think they’ve swarmed
Varroa Treatment – Breaks brood cycle
Creates More Hives – one hive can become 2 or even 3
Creates New Queens – fresh queen with local genetics

https://www.perfectbee.com/a-healthy-beehive/inspecting-your-hive/splitting-a-hive 

https://www.honeybeesuite.com/how-to-make-a-split/ 

http://www.bushfarms.com/beessplits.htm 

https://carolinahoneybees.com/how-to-split-a-beehive/ 

https://lowtechinstitute.org/2017/03/07/bee-report-2017-management-plan-for-honey-and-splits/ 

https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/split-pros-and-cons/?newsletter=053019&spot=headline&utm_source=wcemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=KBB%20eNews%2005.30.19&utm_term=KBB_eNewsAll%20Subscribers&_wcsid=34ADA6BC847C0809FB9C61EAF79691A15AEB35C895D06146 

https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/the-backyard-buzz-the-70-swarm-rule/?newsletter=053019&spot=headline&utm_source=wcemail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=KBB%20eNews%2005.30.19&utm_term=KBB_eNewsAll%20Subscribers&_wcsid=34ADA6BC847C0809FB9C61EAF79691A15AEB35C895D06146 

Split Practice:
A great way to practice and something I think would be great for everyone to have is a Resource Hive. Whether it’s a complete hive or just a Nuc setup, having a hive that you can pull a queen from in an emergency, resources such as pollen/nectar, or fresh eggs –  Resource Hives are invaluable!

If anyone would like assistance with making splits, reach out to myself or anyone you’ve sought help from before. Once you split a hive, you catch on quick. I’ve split two hives myself, & helped a handful of people do so this year already. 

Honey Inquiry?!: If you have Honey available for sale, reply to this email! I & others have been getting requests. To those who have already informed me of their availability – I have forwarded that info. 

Wishing everyone healthy hives & lives!

-Dalton Hyde
2020 OBBG President