It was like a scene from E.T. as Pete and I headed up the quiet estate on the back of an old Land Rover in our white (bee) suits with a radioactive device (beehive). Children were called inside and curtains were drawn.
Even before we started we were resigned to the fact that finding a Queen was as likely as finding alien life. So we split Pete’s hive and placed six frames of eggs, brood and bees into my hive body.
When we got to my “apiary” of two empty hives we decided to split the frames further so I would have three frames in each brood box. I then added frames with foundation to each hive and fed them with 1:1 sugar solution.
Unknowns
- I may, or may not, have the Queen
- My new colonies may, or may, not raise emergency Queens
- I may, or may not, have two functioning hives
Unknown unknowns
Probably
Challenges
Pete uses a standard national brood body whilst I use 14×12’s. I am expecting a lot of wild comb below the frames I inserted which is likely to make inspections more difficult. The plan is to shuffle these three frames to the side and remove them over the coming months. Any advice on the speed and timing of this much appreciated?
Final Thanks To Pete
Thanks for the bees, having a plan, spotting eggs and for lifting the hive body (it was really heavy; I have felt the need to write about this under Manliness Already Under Scrutiny). And thanks for the lettuces.
If in three weeks time, I have no Queen or eggs and the lettuces are dead … you might realise I am in need of more fundamental support?
Read More
- How-To Split A Hive
- If you want to get started and don’t want to buy a nucleus/package of bees, then you might want to read my how-to’s on Catching A Swarm and Hiving A Swarm. Please note my disclaimer on the How-To main page which clarifies “I am not Britain’s leading beekeeper or teacher …”.
Share this:
More bees! Exciting. I am no expert but just three frames in each hive sounds like a lot of empty space for them to keep warm. Are you using dummy boards in the middle to keep them warm? Still, if they struggle you could always combine them together again.
I thought about dummy boards … but then I thought it’s Summer, it’s warm, they don’t have dummy boards in the wild … they’ll be OK. I also want them to be free to build comb and if there’s a Queen in there, for her to keep laying in the drawn comb. I’ll see how this goes. If it goes badly, I’ll use dummy boards next time.