An Easy Way to Split a Double Brood Chamber Bee Hive: Splitting Part 2 

Hey, that's really cool, thanks. I want to be making more general interest videos around bees, getting away from the "how-to". I always wanted non-beekeepers to watch my videos. The same way I'm no astrophysicist, but I could listen to Neil DeGrasse-Tyson talk all day.

nice to see my favorite bees channels interact with each other.

Yes, I've heard and seen this happen in colonies with a lot of russian genetics. 2 years ago when we had a big drought in southern Ontario, some of my own queen stopped laying in early august when there was no pollen or nectar coming in. Definitely something to watch for. Usually I'm making splits when the resources are pretty plentiful.

My exact thoughts, two awesome channels!!!

Devan Rawn I always thought it had to do with resources, too, but my Russian hive recently took a break for almost two weeks in the middle of Dandelion season. Very odd. She's laying now, but it seemed like a weird time to stop laying. Thanks for your videos.

Shit that's actually a good idea😯

Me too.... Looking for #3

@@chipfriday8166 Me too Looking for 3

Don't think he ever made one.

Usually just overnight. I'll come back the next day and put in mated queens or a cell.

I just meant making sure there is an appropriate number of frames containing brood and resources in each box. You may use this method only to find that the top box was 90% honey and there's no brood - not ideal for a new split.

You could just leave the super on above an excluder if you want. If you're turning a single into a double just for this method, I can't really tell you how long it will take. if there's lots of nice comb, a big bee population, and a honey flow then it will probably just be a couple of weeks until they've used that second box. but it depends on the condition of your hive. It's maybe not the best method if you're managing a single brood box now.

My goal is to have two colonies going into winter and right now I have one. I started with a nuc a month ago and already have wall to wall bees. I gave the queen extra frames and also put a super on. There's also a strong nectar flow and they are not interested in sugar feeding anymore. So my hope is after adding another deep hive that they not only want the space but will demonstrate the health that would allow for the split. I also have a fantastic queen source- Ruhl Beekeeping Supply who gets their queens from Oliveras in California. I'm interested in trying the Saskatraz type. I'm also toying with the idea to try the double nuc boxes like Michael Palmer uses in Vermont and overwinter some here.

I would have just switched the boxes positions, yes. Left the queen in the original spot. But at that point it's kind of up to you.

Your question makes sense for sure, but it's just not the way I like to be a beekeeper. Introducing a mated queen shouldn't be considered a problem. Letting a split raise their own queen means no laying queen in the colony for 3-4 weeks. I don't have that kind of time in our summers if I expect to get any production out of my colonies. And there's a lot more to genetic selection than, "that colony seems strong".

Thanks for your answer, Devan. When I mentioned introducing a mated queen as a problem, I mean for the very little or amateur bee keeper, because many of us simply don't have any raised queen and buying one is not always that easy or fast - at least here in Europe it takes 10 to 14 days to get one in hands plus the time you'd have to wait until finding out if the colony will accept here. Hence my way of thinking, but I understand your problem with the weather, of course. Again, thanks for your kind answers and greatings!

More than twice the radius of the forager bee, which is approximately 6 km or 3.7 miles.

Better to move queen box and put new nuc in spot of old one to gain returning foragers. Original queen box only needs moved over a few feet. Or take new nuc 3 miles to not loose foragers

Old bees will fly back, the young bees won't.

Just softwood shavings. Pine mostly. Nothing special and I'm not strongly opinionated on the subject. Whatever works.

Tnx! I like your methods and science behind them. For example, when you calculated why a single brood chamber is sufficient, it makes mathematical sense and not just an opinion. Keep up the great work!

That's why he waited 4 days after adding the excluder. Any eggs would be larva by then.

that's good, the main point is where is the queen now, next day he will add a queen to queenless box and that's it, eggs always good.

Yeah I searched for naught. Last video of any kind was July 23, 2019. Think we can safely assume we'll never see Part 3.