A Simple Split creates a nice Plump Queen

A simple hive split creates a nice plump replacement queen to head up the colony. Following several attempts at queen rearing this year I decided to move the egg donor queen out pf her main hive and place her in a nuc box as she is getting quite old and I wanted to give her a chance to overWinter one more time.
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[@allanlewis3505]

Hello Stewart, I saw one of your videos the other day which showed a smooth bodied hive variant with a two compartment top cover box, which allows simultaneous feeding of both syrup and fondant. I cant remember who makes it or the video in question. Can you somehow fix me up with a link to mfr please.

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Allan, They are Technoset hives, I'm not aware of a manufacturer here in the UK. www.ts-bee.com/en/ Stewart

[@ahmadtaba12]

Hi Stewart, I am learning a lot watching your videos. Thank you very much, you are my teacher now. I bought a Nuc 23 days ago. I transferred it to a 11 frames hive box 2 weeks ago. I was inspecting them, 3 days ago. bees were tearing queen cells down. I could even see 3 larvae fallen down. Although I added 5 more frames into the box, they have loads of space but they produced 7 queen cells! I thought they will tear all queen cells down, because there is a queen in the hive. I inspected the hive today and I saw 3 caped queen cells. should I remove them or leave? Thanks again

[@richardweekes6249]

Another nice video thank you. May I ask why you leave the holes in your crown boards open and allow bees into the roof to make brace comb. Thank you

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Richard, thanks for the great question. I leave the holes open through the Spring and Summer as a kind of emergency space for the bees to move in to if required. My ratonale (Non-Scientific) is that if the bees couldn't get into the roof space it may trigger swarming but allowing the extra room might just postpone it enough until my next inspection. I inspect on a weekly basis through the active season so if they do start building comb in the roof space I find it pretty quickly. I'm sure this is more a "comfort blanket" for me but it seems to work, but not all the time of course! I never get more than a small area of brace comb in the roof space so it's never a major issue. Stewart

[@rebeccafontes3717]

Hi Stewart. I have learned a lot about gentle handling of bees by watching your videos this year. I can now work with just veil, no gloves and get stung very rarely. You often refer to using a dummy board to allow you extra space. How do you make that? I'm in the US using 10 frame Langstroth style equipment. Thanks, Becky

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Becky, Thanks for commenting. I'm really pleased you've got to the point where you are using just your veil, gentle handling of our bees makes for easier inspection, I have no doubt. The dummy board is just a piece of plywood cut to size with a strip of timber nailed or screwed tot the top to form a top bar. I'll use one in my Getting Started series and explain how I make it and why it works so well for me. Stewart

[@LadyElk1]

So true, how good plentiful pollination results in large, juicy rasp and blackberries!

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

We are surrounded by blackberries at most of our apiaries and get some lovely fruit most seasons. The freezer is always topped up each Autumn. Stewart

[@stevechor8608]

why you use surgery gloves? is it prevent sting or propolis? if the bee sting will it penetrate?

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Steve, I use the gloves mainly to keep my hands clean, the bees can still still through the gloves although it is more difficult for them. I use washing soda to keep my hive tools clean between each inspection and the washing soda water makes my hands very dry so I like to protect my hands as best I can. Stewart

[@ksmith7122]

Great informative video thanks :)

[@chrishumphreys9363]

Hi Stewart Hope you are well and looking after yourself? I have Question for you. HELP???? I split my main hive a top bar type long box that takes National frames, as it was getting to big + i found a Queen cell with Royal Jelly in it, so I split it by removing the Queen + 5 frames of Capped brood, larva, eggs and stores and move it to another location. She is doing very well, now has a brood and a half and two suppers on, and laying like made and making honey. The problem is with the original Hive is causing problems. They made over 16 Queen cell within 6 days, I removed all but One (the Biggest capped cell). Day 14 after the split, on checking if the Queen had hatched i found that they had torn it down for some reason and made a further 6 Q/C from older larva, so i removed them again, all but one. On day 19 from count back, on checking again now day 29, i found they had also torn this one down to. Now there are no eggs or brood of any kind so no Queen. The colony is going about its business as if all is well , very calm bringing in lots of Nectar and pollen. As a last resort, I have taken a frame of eggs and larva from the split(original Queen) and put it into the hive hoping they will sort themselves out. if that fails. What next? Could i move the original Queen back and let the split raise another Queen or am i causing more problems. Regards Chris

[@vibes6730]

how many frame did you move with the old queen and what type of bee were there on frame like nursing , brood or foragers ?

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Umer, The queen was moved along with three frames of mixed brood in all stages and adult bees that were clinging to the frames. Stewart

[@kirillNatureLoving]

Hi Stewart! Nice quality of video! Did you get a new camera?

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi kirill bm, Thanks for commenting. Yes, and I've changed the settings to upload in 4k. Stewart

[@TheHorrorFanatic450]

Your so gentle with them and thats one of the main things to be when handling your bees. thanks for the information, and hope to see any future videos.

[@tmcuevs7988]

Thanks for the video. if suppose the supersedure queen fails, how many days do you give the hive to declare it still queenless? ...say from the day the supersedure cell hatch

[@kurtlangeberg1329]

Great video and good insight in both the intro video and this follow up video. Always good to see how your efforts turned out. I do have one question. I heard that there is a point after you transfer the eggs into the mating nucs that you absolutely can not go into the hive. At what stage would that be, 2 days, 4 days? I see you waited until the 10th day to check. Thanks for your time. Cheers Kurt

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Kurt, Thanks for the comments and the question. I tend to leave alone after I've done any transfer, whether it be eggs/larvae/sealed queen cell. I think the more patient you can be the less disruption to the colony and the better the chances of producing a well-mated queen. As with most things in beekeeping, everyone has a method or technique that works for them. With transferring eggs or young larvae, I wait until the cell is capped and then have a quick look. Stewart

[@LadyElk1]

love how calm and gentle you are while you work your girls, and explain as you go. Thx

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi L.E., Thanks for the comment, if you're calm and gentle with your bees then generally I find they respond well in return. It's not always the case but it works out in most cases. Stewart

[@adrianmcdaid5082]

hi Stewart great learning a lot keep them coming and thanks for posting these lad

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Adrian, thanks for the comments. Stewart