How long should splits be kept in and out yard before it is safe to move them back to the main yard? In other words, how long should they be separated from the mother hives before returned to the mainyard to avoid drift? This will be good to know for preparing next spring.
Thanks, Phillip Hall "Ben Framed"
I do not worry about drift. I arrange so weaker box gets the benefit of drift. To answer your question 5 days to a week.
I don't move my splits to an outyard. Instead I put the queenless split in the original hive's location and move the split with the old queen into the new spot. That way the queenless hive gets all the field bees which helps keep it strong as it requeen's it's self. I've also use this method when I need to introduce a new queen into a split instead of letting the hive make it's own.
Making stronger split to compensate for the drift:
If you are making split at the out yard then make the hive that you want to
move to the main yard stronger. This way the forgers in the main yard split
hive will be issue out sooner compare to a weak split. If the main yard hive
is severely weak then you can alway add a frame of cap broods with the worker bees attached. Then you don't have to concern with how strong is the split hive.
Remember to make the split a bit stronger so that drifting will not affect both hives after the split. This way you don't have to wait another day to move the hive back to the main yard. In the same yard I also use this stronger split method to compensate for the drifer.
I've never put a split in an outyard... but I find that field bees can still remember the old location the rest of their lives. So I would say three weeks should do it. By then all of the bees that were field bees when you did the split will be dead of old age.
Quote from: Michael Bush on October 04, 2018, 05:15:20 PM
I've never put a split in an outyard... but I find that field bees can still remember the old location the rest of their lives. So I would say three weeks should do it. By then all of the bees that were field bees when you did the split will be dead of old age.
I would think its not only the age or the death of the bee, but the feeling as a running colony (new laying queen) that determines if the bees will fly to the old spot or not.
I put some brood-nests with the old queen about 1 km away. no fieldbees returned...