My first hive which was started from a pkg a month and a half ago is ready to either add the next brood box or I think I can split it.
One of my nucs I got Sat May 11th either didn't have a queen or something happened to her. When I picked it up from the supplier we didn't see her. Too many bees. However on inspection on Sun May 19th I didn't see any eggs and I found emergency queen cells at least 5 of them.
Should I just add the next brood box to my first hive or should I split it and cut out one of the queen cells and put it in the split?
Looking for input on what would be best.
The next question is I don't have a 5 frame nuc box and only have 8 frame hive boxes. Can I start a spilt in an 8 frame box? I don't have drawn comb to put in the box only foundationless frames.
If I do the split how many frames do I pull from my hive? I know I need at least 1 of pollen and honey and 1 of brood but since I will be using an 8 frame hive body for the split, should I split it evenly putting 4 frames in each hive and 4 empty foundationless frames? What would be the best configuration?
Thanks for your help.
David
I generally try to make strong splits. That is at least a ten frame deep's worth of bees, brood and honey (two eight frame mediums worth) which means the hive has to have TWO deeps' worth of bees, brood and honey before I split them (four eight frame mediums). That way they have the critical mass to take off and not struggle for a month or two before they take off...
It also depends on having drawn comb. A split can really take off with drawn comb rather than bare foundation or empty frames.
Thanks Michael,
Looks like I'll just add the next brood box.
David
I have also found that the parent hive recovers much faster from a split if it is strong (couple of deeps). Yeah, that is a pretty obvious observation, but true :) However I do make 2 to 3 frame splits from smaller hives on a regular basis when in expansion mode.