Split question

Recurve · October 05, 2014, 11:24:34 AM

Hi

I decided to split 1 of my hives on the 30th Sept I gave 1 frame of open honey, 2 frames of brood, 1 frame of eggs and 1 frame of pollen + nurse bees

I had decided to let them raise their own queen, however I have since been offered a queen and would like to add this to my split.

The issue I have is the queen will not be ready he says for 7-10 days, From what I read by the time I get this new queen my split may have a virgin queen hatched.

Should I go into the split and break off any queen cells they have started and then add another frame with eggs? or Re combine the split and start over when I get the queen?

Any help appreciated

Rmcpb · October 06, 2014, 07:28:08 AM

I would just let nature take its course. If you have a new queen when your bought one arrives you could just pinch the young queen and introduce your new one or you could just set up a new nuc with your new queen.

Cheers
Rob.

Recurve · October 06, 2014, 10:39:24 AM

Thanks I think I will do as you say let nature do it's thing and do another split when I get the new queen

BeeMaster2 · October 06, 2014, 12:25:38 PM

As to the offered queen, don't count your queens until they hatch. :-D
Jim

jayj200 · October 13, 2014, 11:15:17 AM

make a nuc

Recurve · October 31, 2014, 01:03:09 PM

Update

I got the new queen and she is laying well in the 2nd split I made so all is good there

However the 1st split I did that was left to raise it's own queen I am having issues with and need some advice
I checked on it and noticed it had 3 queen cells so thought things would go well and the 1st queen out would likely kill the other 2 before they emerged so I left it alone for enough time for them to hatch and for the new queen to take her mating flights.

I checked the hive on the 26th Oct Hoping to find the queen or at least see eggs which I saw neither. So I decided to give them another frame of eggs plus a frame of capped brood to keep the population up. I checked them today to see if they had made new queen cells and it does not look like they have. 1 Cell looked a bit larger than a normal drone size but nothing like a peanut shape cell

What are peoples thoughts on how I should proceed with this split ? add another frame of eggs?

Culley · October 31, 2014, 08:18:39 PM

Did you look at where the queen cells had been, and what was left of them? You can sometimes get a good idea of whether a queen has hatched out or whether the cells were munched, just by looking.

Do you know what the date was when you saw the 3 queen cells? And were they capped or not?

I was thinking if there's a virgin queen in there they might not be making more queen cells.

On the other hand, is it possible that the cell you saw which was a bit larger than a drone cell is an emergency queen cell? Here's one of mine.

Recurve · November 01, 2014, 06:26:20 AM

The queen cells where capped when I saw them. Now I can only see 1 of the old queen cells the others are not there anymore.

Looking at your pic there is a good chance that cell may be an emergency queen cell as it does look similar. I guess there is a chance the queen never made it back from mating.

Thank you for the help I will watch and see what happens.

jayj200 · November 02, 2014, 09:16:52 AM

let us know how it goes

Recurve · November 24, 2014, 01:45:39 AM

Quote from: jayj200 on November 02, 2014, 09:16:52 AM
let us know how it goes

I have just checked this split again and still no sign of a queen but also no laying worker which I thought may happen if they where queenless this long. I am at a loss of what to do with this split so have contacted someone to try and arrange to buy a queen. There was still plenty of bees and I even spotted 1 bee returning with pollen.

On a positive note I have 11 Full depth Capped Frames I will be extracting today :-D

jayj200 · November 29, 2014, 09:33:09 AM

sweet

rue · November 29, 2014, 10:20:54 AM

I have a failed split. There are bees but no queen. My split is right next to my main hive. I think they are just working the split as an extension of their hive. Just wondered if your other hive is close by and the bees you can see are from main hive.

jayj200 · November 29, 2014, 06:25:46 PM

are you sure?

rue · November 29, 2014, 09:19:37 PM

No! : ) : / BUT on a positive note someone who will be is coming today to check it out! : )

Culley · November 30, 2014, 12:50:00 AM

Quote from: rue on November 29, 2014, 10:20:54 AM
My split is right next to my main hive. I think they are just working the split as an extension of their hive.

If that's actually the case, I'd think the big hive would just rob out the small queenless one?

Recurve · December 05, 2014, 10:07:11 AM

Good news

I managed to buy a Queen and put the cage in on Friday 28th Nov. The next day I put a big hole in the candy end so they could free her faster as the bees showed no aggression towards the caged queen (not clinging,biting it etc).

We left the split until today and during inspection we found the new Queen alive and well she is also laying nicely.

Quote from: rue on November 29, 2014, 10:20:54 AM
I have a failed split. There are bees but no queen. My split is right next to my main hive. I think they are just working the split as an extension of their hive. Just wondered if your other hive is close by and the bees you can see are from main hive.

I hope you managed to fix your split Rue

iddee · December 05, 2014, 10:24:25 AM

Recurve, 28th Dec. of what year?

Recurve · December 05, 2014, 10:28:38 AM

Fixed thanks Iddee

max2 · January 18, 2015, 01:26:53 AM

Quote from: Recurve on October 06, 2014, 10:39:24 AM
Thanks I think I will do as you say let nature do it's thing and do another split when I get the new queen

For next time ....remember that it takes about 6 weeks from the egg, queen, mating and having working bees. Buying in a Queen is a cheap option. Walk away splits always have one slow hive.