Alright..here goes.. 8 hives..6 with one medium of honey for the winter months. Two without due to the fact that they didn'y complete 10 frames until very late and also a dearth for a couple months. Should I be considering splits or working them with supers? What I want to know is which would I do first. I WANT LOTS O' Honey after all the work getting them going last year. But...whatever is best for the ladies WILL be done. I don't want them to swarm IF possible. I know there is only so much I can control. But control is what I would like to do. If my splits are done early enough can I expect honey from these hives?? More questions will arise as the thread goes I am sure. Also...I want to ask the pollen question. Should I feed them early?? I was told that might make them swarm earlier. How much pollen in a hive is too little or too much?? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks for the help.
If you experienced a dearth, like I did last year, I would wait to do any splitting or divides and concentrate building up the hives I had just incase of another dearth or other events. Build them up strong and look at splitting etc in 2009.
When you say build them up strong, what sorts of things are we talking about concentrating on?
Quote from: LocustHoney on January 04, 2008, 09:23:48 PM
When you say build them up strong, what sorts of things are we talking about concentrating on?
Good queens, large population, several brood boxes as a basic size. You'll also get an idea of which hives are the most viable and energetic which may change your plan about which hives you split from.
Several brood boxes....haven't been thinking about that.