Splitting hives

[chickenwing654]

Hi

I'm brand new to beekeeping (not started yet).  I've done research online only (signed up for bee school).  According to research I've done online, it says when you split a hive, you move the second hive miles away or else they will go back to the original hive.  If you move the second hive a distance away for at least two weeks, they will learn to go to the new location.

Am I understanding  this right?  I am planning on having bees on a acre lot, so I couldn't split the hive at this location?  Any help in understanding this would be appreciated.

Thanks
David

[asprince]

Yes and no. If you take bees from multiple hives it is best to move the split to another location a couple of miles away to keep the forging    bees from returning to the doaner hive or hives. If splitting a hive in the same yard and your are not able to move them the forging bees will return to the mother hive. I just swap places with them in a couple of days and they will balance out.

Steve
   

[mikecva]

I have done as Asprince suggested except I also turned the hive 90 degrees and closed up the hive from one night to the second morning then opened it up for business. Both ways work but not 100% of the time. Just me  -Mike

[sterling]

Or you can move the brood frames you want to use to make the split with above a queen excluder after shaking most the bees off and wait a couple hours and the nurse bee will move above the excluder to tend to the brood and move that box or put them into another box and they will stay with the split in the same yard. Then give them a queen or queen cell.
Or make the split with enough bees [an extra couple shakes] that after the foragers return to the parent hive there is enough bees left to take care of the new hive. Give them a queen or queen cell also.
Or do a walkaway split like MBush writes about in his website.
All can be left in the same yard with little problem.

[Michael Bush]

>According to research I've done online, it says when you split a hive, you move the second hive miles away or else they will go back to the original hive.  If you move the second hive a distance away for at least two weeks, they will learn to go to the new location.

I've been keeping bees and doing splits for 40 years.  I have never put the split anywhere other than the yard I did the split in.  Yes, you will get drift.  There are ways to either allow for it, plan for it, or mitigate it.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beessplits.htm

[rookie2531]

David, you can split your own hive(s) and have them inches apart. You will get some drifting, but who cares, they are all working for you. And after the new brood that was born after the split, never knew where their sisters used to live. Good luck and have fun, it is an awesome adventure.

[GLOCK]

I set mine right on top the mother hive some times.

[jayj200]

just put the newest smallest hive where the parent hive was then move the mother as you see fit.