split and how far to move it?

Kathyp · October 30, 2006, 10:23:00 PM

It occurred to me that i should get my spring bee area ready now, before the rains make it so muddy i can't move up there. i have my hive on RR ties and have extra for next year.

how far away from the original hive do i need to place a split? also, if i order a package and do a completely new hive, how far away should it be? i have read posts on moving hives, but i didn't find the answer to new or splits.

thanks

pdmattox · October 30, 2006, 11:07:43 PM

When i make a split, i move mine at least 2 miles.

Michael Bush · October 31, 2006, 07:52:16 AM

I've never made a split any further away than the same yard. Often right next to the old hive. You just have to allow for half the bees to drift home, so you shake in a lot of extra from frames of brood.

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

If you go two miles or more none of them will drift back to the original place.

Kathyp · October 31, 2006, 11:08:55 AM

thanks. i think i'll split the difference and go to the other side of the pasture :lol:

Michael Bush · October 31, 2006, 08:52:14 PM

The other side of the pasture won't work any better than right next to the hive at reducing drift and will create the drift problem again later when you want to move the split back to the beeyard and they all go back to the other side of the pasture. In other words you'll have the drift problem twice instead of once.

Kathyp · November 01, 2006, 03:44:40 PM

thanks for the info. since i have fewer horses, this pasture is the bee yard. if it doesn't make any difference, i'll put them closer together. that should make work easier. i hope to also be able to collect one or two swarms from my friends berry farm. BTW...the RR ties seem to work really well. they are spendy and i would not have purchased them for hive stands, but since i got a load for free, they seem to be the perfect thing to use.

Brian D. Bray · November 02, 2006, 03:01:11 AM

When making a split you are basically stocking the new hive with nurse bees who have never seen the light of day. In the split some nurse bees will begin to forage earlier than normal due to the collective need. Putting the hive next to its mother has never proven to be a problem for me. I have my bee yard in a 6 foot wide and 20 foot long fenced enclose to keep the goats from using the hives as rubbing posts. I could, if needed, put as many as 10 hive side by side and 2 deep in that area for a total of twenty hives. A bee hive has a very small fottprint.