Complete Change of Plan While Splitting Bees

Splits are one of the coolest things in the beekeeping world and there are so many ways a beekeeper can accomplish this task. A viewer recently mentioned OTS splits and after learning more about the process I decided to try one. I thought I had a perfect candidate but once I got into the bees I decided I needed to do something else entirely different. The decision I made was a bit risky but I hope things work out well. I hope you find the video interesting. Would love to see your comments down below. Let me know what you would have done different. I have learned much over the years from my viewers. It's a wonderful time of year. We are on the verge of an amazing season I hope. Lots of fun things ahead!
How did these splits turn out? Here is the follow up video: • 🤔I turned 1 Beehive in...
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@brucesbees is a beekeeping channel, a vlog of sorts. Here we discuss apis mellifera, aka the honeybee. We give people a look into our sideliner beekeeping operation. We share successes and failures. We show how we feed bees and treat bees for pests, such as varroa mites, small hive beetles and others. I am not a treatment free beekeeper though at one time I thought I wanted to be. We also discus things that are important to us that I think apply to beginning beekeepers and more seasoned beekeepers alike. We also show the beekeeping techniques we use to manage the bees and harvest our honey and sell our honey. We talk about beekeeping equipment and tools. At times we also catch swarms of bees and have even done a few cutouts, though I usually leave that for the professionals. This is not Beekeeping 101, though hopefully the information here is useful. As my good friend @Mike Barry says, this is not a necessarily a "how to" channel. It's a "how I do" channel. I hope you will continue to join us as we continue to perform hive inspections, discuss important matters in the beekeeping world, meet other beekeepers, perform splits, grow our operation and just continue down the path of this wonderful beekeeping adventure. Let's GO!!!

[@kentmeredith2945]

I learned a good tip to find the queen from Mel Disselkohn, who was the developer of the “OTS” method. He said to put an empty box next to your hive and as you inspect each frame, put it in the new box. Your chance of success is much higher, since the queen can’t run to a frame you already inspected.

[@brucesbees]

Good stuff. Thanks. I had a hard time again yesterday. Ended up shaking all the bees into or in front of the new box. The fair Hera flew home and the rest of the bees went into the split. Will be uploading a video on it as soon as I can get it edited. It was kind of a mess but hopefully will work out. It’s amazing how often I see the queen when I am not looking for her.

[@oceanic8424]

​@@brucesbees Interestingly, when Erika from Texas Beeworks is called to relocate a wild hive, she usually finds the queen towards the end of the move from the wild hive to the travel hive. So the previous comment is spot on. IDK if you've seen her vidoes, but she is as close as a person can get to being a bee whisperer. 95% of the time she uses no protective equipment. She scoops up loads full bees bare handed. Wow.

[@brucesbees]

Yes I have seen her videos. I have a feeling she runs into plants of spicy bees there in Texas and probably suits up for those. I do believe she is a talented beekeeper and knows what she is doing.

[@phillipduncan2497]

This just goes to prove that the bees will tell you what and when you need to do things. I am watching this with some ice and snow on the ground here near Kansas City. I look forward to seeing how these turn out.

[@brucesbees]

Me too. A lot of it will depend on whether or not Mother Nature cooperates. It is a bit risky.

[@denisewilson8367]

I'm trying to learn what to do with the bees. I don't have any yet but as soon as I can I would like to have at least 2 hives.

[@brucesbees]

Good luck. Thanks for watching.

[@3172bees]

My 3 hives are in 3 feet of snow and it was 4 below zero this morning here in northern Maine. I won't see my bees for a while but it was good to see yours! Thanks for the video!

[@brucesbees]

It will be here before you know it. Thanks for watching!

[@Ashby_Farms_NC]

Great example of how to use what you find on the fly!!! And if you get 3 out of 4 you’re doing well! Great video!

[@brucesbees]

Thanks Ashby!

[@horizontalbees3480]

So amazing seeing you split hives this early in the season and they were ready to swarm.

[@brucesbees]

I hope they do well. Thanks for checking on Rickey!

[@leandrozuniga5634]

That's warm down there.

[@osok5492]

I think you did great, I like to see a follow up with this hives.

[@spiritoftoad]

A lot of the fun in beekeeping is having to adjust your plan on the fly. There is tremendous skill in knowing what you are looking at and what to do with it and a fine art in doing it. Great work, and I agree with your decision. Don't let 'em go to the trees!

[@brucesbees]

Yes this is a big part of what makes beekeeping so attractive. The challenge of figuring out what to do on the fly. It can also be intimidating at times. Especially to those who are new and/or worried about making mistakes.

[@dadu63]

I am so ready to make some splits. Waiting on some warm weather. The ots method is a good idea. Thanks Bruce!

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for checking in. Will see how things work out!

[@dolezalhoneybees9329]

Us northern Beekeepers are envious of you Bee Keepers in the south.. Single digit lows here. Good decision to split. Awesome video!

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for checking in.

[@577bluegrass]

Wow! Looking forward to the next time you come back to check on the 4 way split .

[@brucesbees]

I am hopeful but also a bit nervous. Hopefully it works out well.

[@JandHFarms]

Good stuff Bruce. Can't wait for spring!

[@brucesbees]

It will be here very soon.

[@royboyd717]

You are the man, Bruce. I would have done the same. I have several hives I'm trying to decide what to do this time of year in piedmont SC with this warm weather. Great video!

[@brucesbees]

Whew sometimes it’s tough to know this time of year. It is a bit risky. A month from now it would be a no brainer.

[@jeffwhite6343]

Excited to see the results.

[@brucesbees]

I am also excited but nervous. It’s still just a little early.

[@christinad2896]

I think you did a great job. We are thinking of splitting our hives too

[@sherryortiz227]

I'm a sugar duster for mite reduction in all my hives. I've been increasing numbers coming out of winter each year and some are past 2nd and 3rd winters. Going into my 9th season with 9 of 10 colonies going strong. My only loss this winter was a strong swarm I got near a naval base here in VA. My guess is they came from a treated hive. Raising my own chemical free queens past 4 years now

[@temijinkahn511]

I’m going chemical free this year as well. Red maple just starting to bloom here in SW North Carolina and the nectar and pollen is starting to come in very strong. Girls came through winter just fine. My plan is to do splits from my strongest hive coming out of winter. I will brood break them all in August. Going for improving my genetics for wintering and mites.

[@timbervalleyhomestead]

I crop dusted mine and the winter has been very mild on my bees and they are just exploding in northern NC

[@barkersbees]

I just messaged you a bit ago asking about OTS and sent you that link about it! I was hoping to see some notching, but that is awesome how you did it! Basically the same thing. Please keep us updated on these 4 colonies and how they do please! Love your videos and thanks for what you do!

[@brucesbees]

Yes. You gave me the idea. I planned to give it a try. Will try to do one for real later on the year. But I have a lot of other things coming as well once things get rolling for real

[@barkersbees]

@@brucesbees awe man I’m excited to see how these 4 do! I know your busy it’s all good but I will definitely be watching for the videos for the updates with these 4 and if you do some real OTS, but that’s awesome what you did! I think it’s gonna work and do good! Fingers crossed!

[@brucesbees]

I hope so. We will see!

[@goldenopalhunting9774]

Wow I loved watching this. With easy to follow instructions.. keep up the great work and I hope it all goes well.. sending luck from Dunolly Australia

[@brucesbees]

Awesome. Thanks so much for checking in from down under!

[@kathyhathaway8823]

With these big full. Colonies sometimes I have to just end up shaking them down thru a excluder to find the queen . Great looking bees . THANKS

[@brucesbees]

Yes. I need to get better at this.

[@CCCRApiary]

I found OTS my first year in bee keeping. Brad has a wonderful video on the process. Made several successful colonies with that process. Going to explore grafting this year. Different tricks up the sleeve for different times. that colony was going to hit the trees in a week. Probably what you saw were the bees trying to stop her laying so she would slim down and fly. When she tried to lay they were ganging up on her. Never seen it before only read about it! My bees are prepping just like yours. I checked several today and they had nectar they were bringing in!

[@brucesbees]

Will be interesting to see how things turn out.

[@apveening]

@@brucesbees Will be, please keep us updated.

[@jeromewesselman1654]

After reading lots of books on beekeeping, what you did seems to make the most sense to me. I think I would’ve done the same thing.

[@brucesbees]

Yes it made sense. Fortunately it worked out well.

[@glockky1]

Great video! Anxious to see you do OTS splits

[@brucesbees]

Maybe can get it done but have a lot of other things in store as well.

[@jimallen1176]

Hey Bruce, it looks like a good job on splitting, dividing brood, & queen cells. Staple a queen excluder to the bottom of a deep box. I call it a shaker box. Place over your hive & shake frames of bees, then a little smoke to drive them down through it. The queen will usually be in the bottom corner.

[@brucesbees]

May need to try that. I have to figure out a quicker way.

[@russellaymond312]

You're doing the way I would great job.

[@mineral-ql6mn]

Hi from Ukraine. I watch your videos to take over some new experience in a beekeeping, and just not to forget English

[@brucesbees]

Awesome. Thanks!

[@Bartmunlin]

That was the best decision. Glad you had the cells to work with.

[@brucesbees]

Thanks. Hope it works.

[@timbervalleyhomestead]

I’m not sure if I posted already but I wanted to say that I had to do this with a very strong hive last year but it was well passed the beginning of swarm season. This year the same genetics of one of the 4 I split from the main hive is in a double deep 8f with a super and they are already exploding out of it. (80° yesterday in NC) I am so close to having to do what you intended I believe. I, like yourself have a very hard time spotting the queen. In just a week since my last inspection she started laying in the super which is really full of honey. I enjoy watching you do this because it brought me back to what I intended last year only for it to be exactly what you did. (Minus my queen had actually already swarmed on me)

[@brucesbees]

Good stuff. Thanks for watching!

[@edcoffin3514]

Awesome 👍👍👍 , that is gonna work fine

[@brucesbees]

I hope so.

[@robertsloan1390]

Look at all of that beautiful bee footage

[@brucesbees]

Absolutely. Amazing little critters!

[@lizrd4me2]

Anxious to see how it goes.

[@brucesbees]

Me too!

[@bryanbetournay5557]

Great video Bruce. Not telling you what to do. What I would be doing as you went would be take my marking pen and mark the frames with the cells. So it’s easier for me to keep track of. Just me because I find there’s to much for my memory to keep up with lol. Great job man. You’ve help me lots. Thanks for your time and effort. 🎉

[@brucesbees]

That’s a great idea. Thanks for sharing it!

[@carlsledge3868]

Great video, yes the bees often change your mind and plan once your inside the hive and as you said if you'd lacked the courage to try something new they'd be in the trees, great plan B on the spot and you won't loose the better part of those bees in a gone swarm, gives your new term "intentional beekeeping" some teeth.

[@brucesbees]

Thanks. Hopefully things will work out in a positive way.

[@carlsledge3868]

I'm pretty sure they will., at worst none take and you have to combine them all back to a double deep production hive, best you wind up with 4 strong production hives, still better than most of them and the original queen gone in the woods. I'm ballsy, I'd stuck the queen frame, a frame of food and 3 drawn frames in the nuc box and moved her to another yard, leaving queen cells in each of 4 boxes there.

[@randyjones2204]

WOW This gives me some ideas for when I do my splits. thanks

[@brucesbees]

You’re welcome. And thank you for watching. So many ways to do things.

[@micheleirwin2959]

Great video! This is me every time I go out it seems. I have one plan and the bees have a different plan. Now I’m really nervous about what I’m gonna find when I get into them this week. I had drones and/or drone brood in half my colonies last week. It’s about to crank up and get serious!

[@brucesbees]

Yes. It’s just about “go” time!

[@DonaldRogersBaldEagle]

Lookingforward to seeing the results of this 4 way split.

[@brucesbees]

Me too!

[@walterhiegel3020]

Well Bruce you are right on point. Early splits with 3 frames of brood some drawn comb and 2 foundations and feed them up is what Bob Binnie uses and he says they will make a good honey crop. The bees forced your hand here. #Noapologies and #nofear.

[@brucesbees]

Thanks. Time will tell. And we have plenty of time to adjust if we need to in a few weeks.

[@joelangus5014]

Great job on the split

[@brucesbees]

Thanks!

[@MrBeachbums5]

Love it! Please do a follow-up video on this split. Still waiting for you to come see my apiary in St. George, UT.

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for checking in. Glad you like it! Maybe we can work that out in the future.

[@macguinn5563]

Bruce I have the same problem looking for those queens. Sometimes I just want to find her and say hi. I plan on doing the same thing this year, I want to relocate my old queens into two frame nucs and add new queens to the colonies. I believe you did the correct thing. Hope they work out.

[@brucesbees]

Yes. I would think I would be better at it by now. Sometimes they just blend in lol! Thanks for watching. Will be interesting to see what happens.

[@charlesoneill466]

Great video.

[@lambbrookfarm4528]

We actually had a fly day here in NH on the 14th. Great to see the bees. We still have a tough month ahead before the pollen starts coming in. Thanks for posting.

[@melissacorey755]

Hi!! From another NH beekeeper!

[@lambbrookfarm4528]

@@melissacorey755 howdy, bees were out yesterday!

[@brucesbees]

Great stuff y’all. Thanks for checking in!

[@melissacorey755]

Gotta stick together! Looks like next week our bees will be up and running between spring rain storms.

[@brucesbees]

Good stuff. The adventure begins!

[@tripletgoat]

Great job!

[@brucesbees]

Thanks. It has been fun!

[@raynowlin3151]

Very calm. Wish I had went with you over to Slocomb.

[@brucesbees]

Yeah you never know what you will find. Always an adventure.

[@petrhoward]

I think you were smart with the fondant. Good luck

[@brucesbees]

I hope they work out ok.

[@kevinwilliams691]

Good to see you adjust on the fly. Still would like to see you do ots and it’s result

[@brucesbees]

Hopefully I can get it done. I have a lot of other splits in the future but usually split with cells or queens. One thing it for sure…Exciting times are ahead!

[@jhulin9018]

Really appreciate explaining as you go. What a hive to find a queen in - just a little tough. On Natures Image video “How to Split a Bee Hive” at 09:47, Greg Burns shows that you can find which box the queen is in by separating the boxes and sitting them side by side. You then pass a few puffs of smoke between them and listen. The quieter box is the one that generally will have the queen. The box without the queen will have a slight roar.

[@brucesbees]

I need to watch that one. I might have seen it in the past but if I remember I might go back and watch again.

[@WildwoodsBeekeeping]

Looks good Bruce, I've been looking out for Cells, been seeing some Drone brood In My hives, not a whole lot but have some drones coming soon. good stuff

[@brucesbees]

Yep Grayson. When Tom was here there were no drones in Ozark. Ten days ago. Slocomb is further south and ahead of my other locations for sure.

[@almostagardener4549]

I’ll will be interested how this turns out!!

[@brucesbees]

I hope it works out well. A little early but we will see.

[@shrevesoule3567]

Hopefully old man winter will bee kind when it's time for mating flights. Good luck!

[@brucesbees]

Yes! I hope so.

[@sherryortiz227]

I've added boxes with comb above each box to open up the colony some in the morning so I could reduce the population. The that evening or next morning I put an election sign between each box and go back in a few hours to check each box for the queen. It's always made it easier in a packed colony.

[@brucesbees]

Good stuff. Thanks!

[@mikedraper5260]

I am not a bee keeper .But it seems like a good way to save your bees the chance of swarming. .That origanle hive sure was calm . Maybe if you were able to mark the queens like most other keepers do . I am up in orillia Ontario still having a few more months of winter to look forward too .

[@brucesbees]

Yes I try to mark them when I am certain what year they are re from. But if unsure I leave them unmarked.

[@glennsnaturalhoney4571]

I would have done something very similar. Perhaps starting in nucs this early in season.

[@todpatn9782]

I think you did the right thing. I think the hive was ready to split. Don’t beat yourself, have patients

[@brucesbees]

Hope it works out. I think it will.

[@todpatn9782]

@@brucesbees give it 3 weeks

[@terry4943]

I understand what you was planning on doing. However as usual we have to what the bees need at the time and what the situation calls for. I like that you moved the queen to a different box. I don't think it is too early to split if they are bringing in nectar and you have drones. I believe that the you will have 4 hives needing another box in 3 to 4 weeks. Please do a follow up video. Good luck. Holladay Honey Bees

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for checking in!

[@sweetharlanhoneybees5877]

I think you done the same thing I would've some myself Bruce. I read a few comments of people thinking she will still swarm but I'm actually thinking once they settle in the boxes that the swarming behavior will fade in the Mother Colony of course unless you are like me and accidentally missed a Queen Cell. Maybe you could make you a shaker box with an excluder like Bob uses sometimes. I personally have never used one but I could see where it COULD spend some situations up or possibly make things easier which of course as you know you don't need to shake the frames with the cells on it if you have intentions on using them. Thanks for the video!

[@brucesbees]

Yeah I need to look into the shaker Hix system. Have tried some different things in the past but haven’t had great success. Probably just doing it wrong.

[@CastleHives]

I've never tried the OTS method either. I typically do what you did, move the Queen and leave the cells. It'll be time for this in a few weeks in Ohio.

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for checking in Brian. The OTS intrigues me because you basically set up a cell starter colony and notch certain cells to predetermine which larvae you want to become queens. Almost like grafting without having to actually do so.

[@smittysbees6860]

Some queens are excellent escape artists. They will run to the back side of the frame faster than you can look.

[@brucesbees]

You are right! I have a hard time finding them much of the time. Still. After 10 years of doing this

[@danschneider9219]

The art of beekeeping doing what nature tells you to do.

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for checking in. Hopefully I read nature correctly. There is a lesson to be learned either way. 🙂

[@williambrown774]

Hello from Baldwin County and Roll Tide! I have three hives I plan on splitting. Checked on them last weekend and they're busting at the seams. I was thinking of splitting them up this weekend before they started swarming on me. The Red Maple is in full bloom right now down here and it's all over the interstate. I'm hoping to get 9 hives from these three and also hoping tonight is the last big storm and cold snap we have down here this year. Also, did you know March 6th is Naked Gardening day! So go ahead and get your tomatoes ready as well!!! lol. Thanks for all your videos man.

[@brucesbees]

Lol. Yep won’t be any naked gardening or beekeeping happening over here. Good luck with your bees. Maybe this will be the last little cold snap. Goodness. Beekeeping season is here!

[@VtPapa]

Hey Bruce you need a frame perch I can’t brag cause I just got mine and I been keeping bees for years. looks like you got a good start with that hive hope you end up with four good ones.

[@brucesbees]

Me too. Was going to check them today for a follow up but the weather did not cooperate.

[@Peekul1]

I been struggling finding my queens too 😅 University of Guelph has a good video I should rewatch. He recommends training your eyes and searching for queen (nothing else). It's focused work

[@brucesbees]

Yes. It’s a challenge. I think I am getting better at it.

[@BucksBeesS.C.]

I think you made a good move on this hive.

[@brucesbees]

Thanks. We will see. It’s still pretty early.

[@xaniaforever100]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Where did you find these plastic frames? Best regards.

[@brucesbees]

Pierco. I prefer the triple waxed frames. The more wax the better they draw them out.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

beekeeping is always an adventure for sure ... this crazy warm weather has me worried because everything is happening 6-8 weeks earlier than normal for my location in kentucky

[@brucesbees]

Whew! Hope your ready! I’m not lol.

[@sharpridgehomestead]

@@brucesbees I'm actually not lol, thats the problem. Mine have been bringing in maple pollen since 2nd week of january and normally that is early to mid march. My bees have flown more this winter than they were clustered up

[@framcesmoore]

enjoyed the video, hope u do one with ots queen rearing I would like to see that have a blessed day

[@brucesbees]

I want to do that. Had someone request it recently. Have never really done a true OTS split with notched cells before. Just didn’t work out this time.

[@cluelessbeekeeping1322]

I would have done EXACTLY what you did...but used Nuc boxes instead.. When I see cells, I split. I'll make 1 split per cell (but if it's as cold as it is now(I think too early), I'll make the splits with at least 3 frames of bees & food.

[@brucesbees]

Yes that is an option. Didn’t have that many nuc boxes with me lol. Hopefully things will turn out ok.

[@charleswrinkle4262]

This kind of day in the bee yard is a wonderful problem to have.

[@brucesbees]

For sure.

[@DavidWilliams-wr4wb]

I started tending bees with my family back in 71” , and although I took a break for years some things have changed and some have not , the queens after 50 years of bee keeping still the queen gives me the slip lol

[@brucesbees]

No doubt haha. So hard to find her sometimes.

[@DavidWilliams-wr4wb]

@@brucesbees I think what happens with a lot of people including myself is that whenever I look at a frame of 5,000 bees my eyes wander all over rapidly and I can’t focus on one bee and when I get excited and see a huge thorax with it’s head buried in a cell I think I found my queen and then a drone pops his head out and says man , this honey tastes great !!! What ? I can’t taste the honey?? 😄😄then it’s back to the search and rescue 🤣

[@davidlewis4179]

Last year I started the season with a 1 to 3 split. This split happened on May 1st when I found a swarm cell. Split into 3 hives as it was a full double deep 8 frame setup. A week later I found where the queen was. I got a couple queen cells from a local breeder to populate the other 2 hives.

[@brucesbees]

Yeah. So many ways to do things. I hope this works out but if not I can always add a cell later or recombine. It’s a bit risky this time of year because of weather but there were drones galore at that location.

[@davidlewis4179]

@@brucesbees in all three splits I did the cell depression below a row of eggs but none were found to have emergency queen cells after 7 days. So I opted for purchasing queen cells. And yes it helps to have a queen breeder local to me. Being that since I started bee keeping I've got to know our local Amish neighbors and Amish Beekeepers. My wife and I are constantly getting calls for transporting Amish to shopping and appointments now. In fact my wife will be getting up shortly to go get the school teacher to school and then make a second trip to get the scholars (Amish definition for school children) to school. I mentioned that I have lost 3 hives this winter. Unfortunately one of those losses was the original queen from the 3 way split.

[@brucesbees]

Yeah you never know exactly what to expect. I try a lot of things. Most work out fine. Some don’t. But the little critters are always teaching me things.

[@ot7093]

Watching all the way from South Africa! Although this side the bees are fairly not that busy as we're preparing for the winter

[@brucesbees]

Awesome. Thanks for checking in!

[@lindenkashettabees2596]

I have the same problem finding the queen in larger hives. I think I go into it with wrong mindset thinking it's going to be difficult and I get a little stressed because if I don't find her they're guaranteed to swarm. I've noticed if I go into it with a more carefree attitude I seem to find her more quickly. I just need to remember that hive swarming is far from the end of the world.

[@brucesbees]

Good points. Thanks for sharing.

[@Jane-L.S.]

I believe you did do it right. Will find out when you check them again.

[@smainebelhadi1193]

Hi Bruce. I think you did the right thing at the right time, otherwise you'll end up loosing a lot of new colonies ( swarms ), and the honey harvest from such a strong colonie like this. My suggestion in the next situation like this is to devide the colonie into four like you did by shaking the bees through a queen exluder equally into each box, so you can have a better assessment of queen cells, and be able to catch the queen mother on top of the exluder if she still there. Next, put the queen with a frame of mixt eggs, larvaes, an close brood, and frame of food in a box. Shake some bees to cover the two frame and take it away. Now you can devide the rest of the colonie depending on how many queen cell you collected.

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for the tip. And thanks for watching. It turned out well.

[@emilandrusko8597]

it's awesome that the colony was so full so early. Big fan of Hive Alive Fondant. Will you keep those splits as single deeps?

[@brucesbees]

Just depends on how they grow.

[@vincerieger6143]

Good job

[@brucesbees]

Thanks it has been fun!

[@calvinwaligora8312]

I do this with my hives all the time, because it's cheaper than buying queens or grafting queen cells for now currently.

[@brucesbees]

Yep. Works well much of the time. Hopefully can get a follow up video done soon.

[@hopesadler4000]

I agree you did the right thing. Here in SC my hives are exploding, but no swarm cells yet. In singles, I have a minimum of 4 frames of brood and doubles up to 8. I am adding deep boxes of drawn comb and foundation, just to give them room. Drones are everywhere. i don't want to split yet,, but may be forced to in a couple of weeks. Will the 4 hives, will they be honey producers? Thanks Bruce.

[@brucesbees]

We will see. I have not decided if I will place as much focus on honey or rather growing my operation this year. I definitely need honey but not sure I need as much as last year. Will be interesting to see how things work out!

[@deanjackson5937]

Good call in my opinion

[@brucesbees]

Hope it works out.

[@Kapp_Bee_Co]

This gives me a lot of hope for next year with a double deep over wintered! Was that a Pepto Pink queen?

[@brucesbees]

This one was not.

[@RealMav1]

I think you did GREAT!!! I will be doing this as weather permits. Let us know how you make out .

[@brucesbees]

Will try to do that. Thanks for watching.

[@johnthebeekeeper1706]

Always mark your queens when you see them it makes it much easier when you need to find them !!!! Are the cells in the middle of the frames supersedure cells .

[@brucesbees]

I try to do that when I am certain of the year.

[@dougkidd4799]

Everything you did made sense to me, did it work out good? Im thinking about doing the same thing

[@brucesbees]

Worked out well. There are a couple of follow videos including my most recent one.

[@Shohjahon_asalchi]

Asalomalekum Uzbekistondan juda zo'r oyla zur siz bilan tajriba almashsam juda hursand bulardim biz uzbekistonda asalarichilik bilan shuglanamiz kelajakda birga biznes qilardik tanshganmdan hursandman

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for checking in!

[@rodneymiddleton9624]

I think it will work!

[@brucesbees]

I hope so!

[@BucksBeesS.C.]

Im i Darlington S.C. and still worry about our weather. Dont want to roll my queen. Need to be patient with my inspections

[@brucesbees]

Yes it is still a risk right now. But it won’t be long before things are rolling!

[@TexasBeekeeper]

You know you're dumb when you're sitting here waiting for it to play, trying to figure out why it won't play and then you finally read that it says "Premieres in 13 minutes".... That'd be me....See y'all in a few.

[@nzs316]

Could be worse, you could be tearing apart your wifi and berating the provider!

[@brucesbees]

Y’all are hilarious haha!

[@brucesbees]

Too funny.

[@TexasBeekeeper]

@@nzs316 LOL. I get 8mb/s internet speed, so that is exactly where I would have gone next if I hadn't noticed the "premieres in 13 minutes"

[@nzs316]

@@TexasBeekeeper Cheers!

[@tonyfox5422]

If you have drones emerging then you can start grafting....that’s rule of thumb in My part of England. It’s not determined by a date or month. A few weeks of good flying weather ahead is clearly very helpful for mating.

[@brucesbees]

Yeah there will be plenty of weather for them to fly around. They are already doing it at that location.

[@wadebarnes6720]

When I have a hard time and I plan on doing a split i separate the two boxes and come back in an hour or so and usually you can tell which box anyway

[@brucesbees]

Great advice. Thanks for sharing!

[@BrianCooper901]

Looks like you made a good choice. Do you think you have any other colonies at that point that they need split so they don’t swarm?

[@brucesbees]

I don’t know but it’s doubtful. There are some that are close. I have some cells coming the first weekend of March. Hope to hold off making splits until then.

[@jonharrop9898]

I would love a follow up. How are these colonys doing?

[@brucesbees]

It is in the plans. Just haven’t had a chance to do that yet. I am curious to see how they are doing as well. I will tell you that I added a second box to the hive in the original spot because many of the foragers returned. But I really haven’t gone through these colonies since that day. Hope to get a follow up done next week.

[@pastorlarryhancock7360]

It looked like you made the choice with what you found in the colony. I hope you’ll do a follow up video what happens.

[@brucesbees]

I will try to do that. But it’s about to get wild around here.

[@pastorlarryhancock7360]

@@brucesbees we seem to be ahead of schedule here in SC as well. Bees are taking off. Looks like it may be a crazy year.

[@brucesbees]

Yep. We shall see. Whatever happens it will be an adventure!

[@pastormike1971]

Great video!! What kind of rubber gloves did you use? Do the bees try to sting? What are the thickness?They dont mind the black color?

[@brucesbees]

They sting through them occasionally but no more than regular leather gloves IMO. And the dexterity is so much better. Here is a video of the details. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZCoq6mKZs56jbM

[@costacheliviumarian2516]

i belive it is gona be fine, fling drones now, til the virgin queen mainting flight you will have lots of mature drones you will need just good weather, all the best from romania

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for checking in. Yes the weather is the wildcard in the equation. Maybe everything will be ok. If things don’t work out as planned we will figure out a solution and move on.

[@rpeebles]

When I see capped swarm cells, I do the same...make splits. Destroying the queen cells is just delaying the inevitable.

[@brucesbees]

I tend to agree.

[@tomdamour4902]

It seems your bees are like mine, they don't read the books so they do their own thing sometimes. Interesting--thanks.

[@brucesbees]

Absolutely.

[@robertstwalley3662]

Agree, if you dont cut their momentum down they will definitely blow up to the trees. YOu have nothing to lose. How old is the Queen, one QC you shown was in a classic supersedure position, I probably would have gave that box a QC just for good measure if I had enough, they will tear it down if they do not need it now that they have space. Either way we got all year to fix anything that goes wrong.

[@brucesbees]

Good stuff man. I checked in them today. Follow up video coming soon.

[@so_cal_mom]

I like the Doolittle method because you don’t have to find the queen.

[@donbearden1953]

Bruce, I think that colony needed what the Doctor ordered!

[@brucesbees]

I think I did the right thing. Hopefully it will work out. Time will tell. Thanks for checking in Don!

[@MitchellWikoff]

Hello Bruce! I'm entering my third year into beekeeping in north central Ohio and entered spring last year with three booming colonies needing to be immediately split. Along with needing queens which were not yet available also needed woodenware! In the end two colonies entered into waves of swarming and I did not have enough knowledge or support to deal with. Entering 2023 I am preparing to do some type of walk away splits like you did here and should they not make new queens I would expect new queens with be available in following month. Nothing ventured, nothing gained! Thank's for sharing!

[@brucesbees]

I like it! In beekeeping you have to be willing to try things. You should reach out to Brian Koper @Castle Hives. I think he might live in that area. He also has a great channel where he addresses a lot of issues that hobbyists have.

[@MitchellWikoff]

@@brucesbees Thank you for the recommendation but Brian is a little too far away from me.

[@brucesbees]

Oh I see. If I were you I would reach out or Brian and Greg anyway. They are pretty tuned in to beekeeping in Ohio. They might know someone in your area that you are unaware of. Whatever happens it might be worth taking a trip over to Greg’s for a Learning Yard event sometime this year. That is a great community to be a part of.

[@rick418tech]

How did this 4 way split work out. Thanks for the Hivealive discount! Still works 1/29/2024

[@brucesbees]

Good deal. Here is an update on the 4 way split. This video just dropped yesterday. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5jLY3x6g9GSaLMsi=qhBd1fgrNPRUVqnf

[@janahamilton9588]

what should i do with my honey super left from winter. 10 frame super. 5 frames got treated in fall so left on and gave 5 more drawn out frames. these bees have drawn those out and are filling. was gonna split but may leave so they just make honey. the hive is full and very productive.

[@brucesbees]

It really depends on your goals and individual situation. Where are you located?