I have had a recent success story and thank some of you guys for your advice and postings.
I bought a nuc last year that overwintered well and I split it 3 weeks ago. Basically, I just took half of the frames with brood with the queen and moved them to a nuc leaving the remainder without a queen, but with lots of day old eggs. (live in pittsburgh, pa) Just checked the hive and both queens are laying, and I was able to find both queens. Great news. Then last weekend, got a call redirected from a pest control company about a swarm near a man's garage. Scooped them up into a nuc and today, they have made wax on the foundation and have begun to lay eggs. Went from 1 hive last summer to three this spring! Learned alot from the books, but also from reading your posts and thoughtful replies. Thanks again!
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That is just wonderful!
...JP
Great stuff. Perhaps you noted that a swarm will produce comb very fast - that's because their wax secretion glads kicked in before swarming reading for the construction of a new home. Ideal time to use foundation in the swarm colony.
This was very inspiring to me as I'm a new bee keeper! You're a fast learner & must have done a lot of things right. Thanks for sharing. FG