newbie to this kind of thing need some advice

[Bee Whisper82]

Hello,

    I did a walk away split yesterday 5-20-2010 and I have never done one.  In one hive I put the queen and 4 frames covered with bees, brood, pollen and honey the brood had all stages of brood.  I put new foundation for the rest.  In the other hive I left the rest of the frames covered with bees and brood in all stages and pollen and honey.  I filled the rest with new foundation. 

The questions are:  What can I do to help each of the hives build back up quickly to have a honey crop from them this year?   

Do I need to feed them or not at all to let them do it on their own?

Can I use a baggy feeder? 

How long to feed them for? 

How long do I need to wait to check the one hive for queen cells and how long will it take for the hive with the queen to build to full strength again.

Our honey season ends late August.

                                                             Thanks for any advice
                                                                    James

[jajtiii]

Many folks around Richmond feed until the bees draw out two Deep's of foundation. Baggies, top feeders, inverted jars and entrance feeders are all utilized by one beekeeper or another. A weight check is done in mid-August to see if they have a full Deep of honey for the Winter. If not, a stronger feed (2:1) is used until they fill that out.

As far as getting honey this year, that is not something that we typically get from a split done at this time of year, so I cannot really answer that question.

As to checking for the queen, there are two camps that I am aware of. A few say to let them go at it for 3 weeks and check for the queen/eggs then. But, more believe that it is wise to check on them after 7 days to make sure that they have started a few queens (so that  you can add another frame of eggs if they have not.)

[MustbeeNuts]

I think you did it just right, but do check in a week for queen cells in the one. You really dont need to worry if there was brood in there at the right age, as far as feeding them, absolutely feed, it only helps, bees can't pull wax if there is no flow, and the feeding takes care of that.

As far as honey, I have gotten honey from lots of spring splits, it depends were you are, the season, and how well the bees do, I wouldn't expect lots of it, but I'm sure a frame or two is very possible. The big thing is making sure they can winter out. Then next year you will get a nice supply. From my experiences, just 3 winters, the big thing is getting them thru the winter. The rest usually takes care of itself.

Feed them till they stop taking it, they will stop or slow down a lot. They do prefer the real   stuff. Feeding them is to help them grow, and times of dearth.
Baggy feeding works fine, as do jars, or what ever. Your choice, they all work some favor one kind or antoher, I would never use the entrance feeders, they seem to promote robbing?? But a jar with a few holes with a small nail, on the inner cover over the centre hole. Just put an empty super on top, then the lid. Works for me.

[riverrat]

i just done some walk awayu splits 2 weeks ago and the appear to be doing well. i would recomend doing 3 things if you want to build them up fast and that is to feed feed feed. if one hive gets to a little behind swap locations with the strong hive during the afternoon oops that is 4.

[beee farmer]

Looks like you got some good advice above.. I second the "feed till both broodboxes are full of bees".
if in doupt you can whisper to them and ask which feeding method they perfer..... sorry couldn/'t resist that one.  :evil:  :-D :-D

[iddee]

In answer to the post title, my advice is to start with "I plan to make a split tomorrow", NOT "I made a split yesterday".

The one making a new queen will have foragers from the new queen approx. the end of July. They will be lucky to put enough away for winter. I don't think you will get honey from it. Also, you say brood in all stages, but don't mention eggs. Without eggs, I doubt you will get a viable queen.

The queenright hive may make enough honey to get a bit, but I doubt you will get a full super.
FEED, FEED, FEED, until you put the honey super on. Then no more feed, unless you want sugar honey.