Fla sping soon... split

[malabarchillin]

It will be spring soon in the East Coast of Central Fla. I only have 1 hive so I have to be a little conservative because I do not wish to end up with zero hives :) I have a lot of undeveloped land around me for forage. I have many Red Maple trees and have read that they do not provide much honey, but help stimulate early buildup.
I have 1 deep hive with a medium super full of honey. Soon I wish to split. By the end of the 2008 I wish to have 3 hives and a nuc. I am thinking of splitting the current hive in 2 and put the split in a deep body and using  divider boards in both to limit their space until they build back up. In the fall I am thinking of doing the same except 1 will be a nuc and 1 a full deep with divider board. If next fall is like this last one the Brazillian pepper flow should be enough to give all of them enough to overwinter.
Ok questions:
With a split in 2 'deeps' with half a strong existing hive in each will putting 5 'medium' capped honey frames in each allow me to not feed syrup or do I still feed some syrup to stimulate their buildups ?
Thoughts on splits are welcome.

[Michael Bush]

You can feed if you like, it may make a difference.  The big difference, from my experience, is if they have plenty of stores and a source of pollen.  If they have that they will build up in the spring.  Without it, they will wait for a flow of nectar and pollen.

I'm not in Florida, so I really can't offer advice on when you should split.

Here's my take on splits in general:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beessplits.htm

[pdmattox]

Red mapel is great for building up. It is the first pollen source of the year with cherry laurel following. Anytime after the winter solistice it is good to make nucs and splits.

[Understudy]

There is plenty of plant life blooming in Central and South Florida right now. Also the citrus season is going full blast in Florida depending on what type of citrus and your location.

Look at some of the pollen they are bringing in you will probably see a few different colors.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[malabarchillin]

thanks for your replies.
There is still citrus fruit on the trees near me. There is a tree nursery 1/2 mile from me and I hope that I get some orange blossom activity from them. The temps are still hoovering near 80. Brendhan you are about 100 miles south of me and this time of year that is a big difference in how far cold fronts go south, so when do you make your spring splits and do you feed ?
Thanks
Mike

[Understudy]

The weather from you to me can be quite different. Usually I run about 5 degrees warmer than you in the colder months.

I do not feed my bees unless it is a weak hive or new nuc. There is enough food source here year round that it is not an issue. You can pull honey year round if you want to. I don't pull in November and December by choice. And depending on stores I may not pull in January. However Febuary and March it is hard to place supers fast enough.

I make divides more than splits. But I like having three or more mediums for brood so I am carefull on how I do them. It takes time for bees to build up that much. However once they get there they are able to go go go. I also like having hives where I call pull brood frames from if I need one. And with cutouts that can be an issue.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[LocustHoney]

Underdtudy....What kind of pest control do you use??

[Understudy]

I use no pest control, except for maybe the occasional powdered sugar.  I use small cell. I have some small hive beetles. However the hives are strong enough to deal with that.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[Kirk-o]

Spring is almost here in L A .And it has rained more this last two weeks than all last year.I make my splits in September.I can get queens then.The peach trees will be Blosoming soon here thats when it is Spring forme
kirko