Phew!
I think I am suffering from information overload from reading the Bush Farms site (awesome stuff! thanks so much!!), so do forgive me if the answer to my questions are glaring and I missed them.
I have the one hive....doing well here in Central IL zone 5....and I am getting a new queen tomorrow. I was thinking I'd have to requeen the hive, but I have decided to make a split and give her a new hive (shoulda ordered a swarm with her.....ah that 20/20 hindsight).
SO.....I will take some brood, honey, nursing bees and foragers from the original hive and attempt to get them to accept the new queen in a new hive. Should I do this with the new hive as far from the old hive as possible on our land (we only have about 3 acres and our house is right in the middle) then slowly move the new hive (2 feet or less at a time) to the current one-hive apiary? How long do I wait before I start moving? I'm thinking about 4 weeks.
Thanks so much! I'm tickled as bleep to be getting a new queen and another hive going (I can see myself with a few dozen hives in a few years!).
Love, Marla
you can make the split right where they are at. Do a even split and set them side by side. If one is stronger then the other swap hive locations in the middle of the day.
>I think I am suffering from information overload from reading the Bush Farms site (awesome stuff! thanks so much!!)
You are welcome.
>I have the one hive....doing well here in Central IL zone 5....and I am getting a new queen tomorrow. I was thinking I'd have to requeen the hive, but I have decided to make a split and give her a new hive (shoulda ordered a swarm with her.....ah that 20/20 hindsight).
If you have a good strong hive, a split sounds like a good plan.
>SO.....I will take some brood, honey, nursing bees and foragers from the original hive and attempt to get them to accept the new queen in a new hive.
Good plan. But the foragers will all return to the old hive.
> Should I do this with the new hive as far from the old hive as possible on our land (we only have about 3 acres and our house is right in the middle) then slowly move the new hive (2 feet or less at a time) to the current one-hive apiary?
I'd just set them up so both are facing the old location and there is no hive there. That way the population will get distributed instead of all going back to the old location. I'd leave them side by side.
http://www.bushfarms.com/beessplits.htm
Thank you SO much!
Yes, I read about the new hives facing the old hive, but I didn't understand that the old hive was no longer there. Thanks SO much for clarifying for me!
Love, Marla