Modified Taranov Split of Mean Honey Bee Hive

[@johnhuhn621]

If you put a shim or an empty box above the brood box, you can lightly knock frames or even whole boxes of bees into the box below. You squash fewer bees and you don’t get the bees as fired up. In short, slow down and take it a little easier. Thank you for the video 😊

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for the tip!

[@benjamindejonge3624]

The best and most practical split method I’ve seen so far, thanks for sharing

[@bravo2p366]

A lot of opinions about requeening/not requeening, but what I took away from it was getting to watch a field expedient way of doing a Taranov split. As a beekeeper, I am always interested in new ideas. Thanks for the Vid.

[@brucesbees]

Yes it turned out ok. Same principle. Just a little different technique. Thanks for checking in!

[@bluejay3333]

Been watching several bee keepers this week. So fascinating how you manage thousands of bees!! I eat raw honey nearly everyday, it’s very nutritional! Thanks for your skill in bee keeping. 👍🏻

[@brucesbees]

So many ways of doing things. Glad you like honey. Thanks for watching!

[@bradgoliphant]

Nothing like a bee march. Simply amazing

[@brucesbees]

It never gets old!

[@massachusettsprepper]

Unfortunately I don't believe this will fix the mean hive issue. The genetics from the mean Queen will be in the eggs produced by that Queen. Therefore the new queens that hatch will have the same temperament. There definitely was a lot of bees in those boxes though so it was a good thing that you did the split. Thanks for sharing.

[@brucesbees]

My thoughts are that if the new queen mates with drones that have gentler genetics then maybe the new bees will be less aggressive. If it doesn’t work out that way will requeen when queens are readily available.

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for watching and commenting. I hope these comments help others who are reading them.

[@eddieosama]

why didn't you put frames of eggs from a calm hive with good genetics .your spreading that genetics in your apiary . just get rid of all the queen cells and give all these broods to the other hives and just put one frame of eggs and split that hive 4 or 5 ways.

[@brucesbees]

Will see how things work out. May end up re-queening in a few weeks.

[@tomcollins5195]

The defensiveness of a hive is determined by the drones the queen had mated with. The queens genetics determine how hygenic the hive will be. If the mean queen's daughter's mate with drones of a calm queen then her offspring will be chill. The only real problem would be in allowing the mean queen to continue making drones that pass along the nasty traits to other queens.

[@hischild8899]

Neat to see this simplified version of taranov....I just did this with a hive that did a test or failed swarm. When they were all in the box I set up the taranov...this is day 3 after this and no more indication of a swarm from the main hive.

[@brucesbees]

Yes they think they have swarmed. Well done! I did a couple of “by the book” Taranov splits later in the year last year but did not do a video. They worked really well and it was not quite as chaotic

[@hischild8899]

@@brucesbees I think I prefer using the sheet because after thinking about it you can actually tell better about what's really going on and you can keep the base off the ground

[@brucesbees]

True. Maybe I will do a “true” TARANOV split and make a video on it. Just got so many things going on right now!!!

[@kittykat5797]

Just gonna say I have no idea how i got here on KZbin but i'm glad i'm here. i've only watched this video and the video before this but looking at your channel you seem very experienced and knowledgeable about bees. I've noticed you come back to comments left on older videos and i just want to say i'm sorry at how every single comment seems to think they can do your job better than you. Everyone has different styles of beekeeping and this happens to be your style, like you said you are taking care of a friend's hives and you have to do what he wants to do with the bees. I have never raised bees or been around anyone who raises bees so i don't totally know what you are doing but thank you for explaining things so clearly and not assuming everyone who watches is an experienced beekeeper. thank you for being so patient with some of the incredibly rude and judgmental comments being left.

[@brucesbees]

Awesome comment. I am glad you like the videos. I definitely have areas for improvement but hope that me sharing my journey can help others along the way. I do not kind critical comments and have even adjusted the way I do somethings and improved my techniques over time, but I do not understand people who are super negative, rude and disrespectful. It is just part of the process though. Most are supportive and constructive and I appreciate all my viewers and the time they spend watching my videos. Thanks for your support and I hope you stay tuned !

[@moebees3060]

I don't understand how this fixes the mean hive problem? Also not a good idea to shake queen cells.

[@brucesbees]

My main objective was to get the queen out of there to a remote location. My hopes are that when a new queen hatches either from a queen cell or egg she will mate and produce more gentle offspring that continue to maintain a strong colony. I agree. Probably should have gently brushed the bees from the frames with queen cells. I actually accidentally smashed one of the queen cells so I am depending on the one cell to produce a queen. Will use another strategy if this one fails. By performing this type of split I believe I created an artificial swarm. Hopefully both colonies will respond and thrive accordingly. That is my logic. Will see what happens. My videos are designed to take people through the journey with me. I am learning along with my viewers. I am willing to try things as long as they make sense to me. Some things work and others don’t. Looking forward to seeing how this one turns out. Will try to do some short follow up videos along the way. Thanks for watching and I appreciate the question. It is a good one.

[@decaturridgebees8761]

Ultimately requeening can help. However, if its in her genetics you’ve just requeened from those genetics. Sometimes its other factors that make a colony defensive. Splitting usually does help. Last year i took a queen and few frames of bees from a mean colony and they calmed right down. The remaining colony however did NOT!. They were horrible attacking animals in the yard and us as well. I destroyed the queen cells they made and put a new queen in there. They killed her. Eventually, i chose to kill them. So, i certainly hope this works for you Bruce. Looking forward to the updates

[@brucesbees]

This is my philosophy. Will see how it goes.

[@moebees3060]

@@decaturridgebees8761 Agressive hives are difficult to requeen. Push in cage is probably best.

[@brucesbees]

Interesting idea. Thanks for sharing.

[@pcdubya]

Holy cow that box was loaded! I have a similar mean hive I caught from a swarm last year that my more knowledgeable bee buddy helping me wants to re queen this year because they are so tough to work. Have to button all up like that and tape unless you like getting stung. I kind of hate to "off" her since she is so productive . I have a another hive I got from him and and they are super calm, like night and day.

[@brucesbees]

If they are so mean they are not fun to work them sometimes the only solution is to replace the queen. I did move her to a remote area. Did a follow up video that I just posted a couple of days ago. So far the split is more calm. Haven’t been in the original hive since the split. Plan to do that this weekend. Hopefully they are doing well too and have a new queen hatched. Will try to make a video of that as well. Have no idea what to expect but we will find out soon enough!

[@vernonboschmann9518]

Thanks brucebees for putting yourself out there even including the little misshappenings that happen to all of us in many ways...the "know it all haters" are waaaaay worse than 50.000 stingiest bees. I have only 6 hives but one of them is deadly..they follow my truck up to 1km away and still attack if get out, haha. But they are very productive so I'll keep them around until I can do a split similar to yours in the video.

[@brucesbees]

Great! Thanks for checking in and thanks for the kind words. It never hurts to re-queen if the bees are too mean but I usually keep them around unless they just become unworkable. I thought it was worth a shot with these bees and it turned out ok.

[@Brewmaster721]

That hive next to it looks packed too

[@brucesbees]

Yes! Those bees were strong.

[@robertbennett6697]

Surprising that hive had not already swarmed. Impressive population for sure. Once the bees were in front of the ramp about how long do you think it would take for all of them to march into the new box had you not had to shake them off at the end? I've seen where the queen can be spotted and captured while marching up the ramp and wondered how long the procession might last.

[@brucesbees]

Not sure. They kind of stalled. I did a couple of true TARANOV splits using a sheet and ramp per instructions and the bees just balled up under the ramp just like a normal swarm. It was pretty cool.

[@edcoffin3514]

Nurse bees won't return to the old hive

[@brucesbees]

That’s right. They are with the queen and should help get things going in the new hive. I left most of the brood in the old hive and it should hatch out soon. This is my understanding of how these type splits work. We will see how it goes.

[@brucesbees]

I learned a lot through this process. Yes the nurse bees and queen stay with the new hive and foragers go back to the original hive. There was plenty of brood in there. If you watch the follow up videos you will see that the split I did pretty much worked to perfection. Both hives are strong and have done extremely well! Thanks for checking in!!!

[@macmcleod1188]

Since the algorithm recommended this to me 2 years after you posted it, I'm wondering how it turned out? Did you need to requeen the hives? Did they calm down?

[@brucesbees]

They did do quite well actually. Not sure why they were so defensive in the first place. Here is the play list if you would like to see how things went that year with these two hives. kzbin.info/aero/PL8TUJQAHFlHvlhX5Biz6IxBH29TW64IcP Thanks for checking in!

[@fishmanfairclough7530]

@@brucesbees There seems to be train of thought the aggression relates to hybridisation and once the genetics settles so will their temperament, not sure how much mileage this has.

[@brucesbees]

Yeah I don’t know either. Some say their bee’s attitudes get worse from generation to generation. It may all just have to do with available drones and genetics of queens. There are so many feral swarms in the woods around here most of the bees I think are truly just “mutts” so to speak, a mixture of all kinds of things. I don’t know if I have ever had a colony that was consistently mean enough to destroy but I have had some that were definitely quite feisty for sure.

[@amykrell9984]

you are brave putting those frames on top the bees and not knowing where the queen is...thanks for the video..i know its a lot of work when the bees are giving you a run for your money...

[@brucesbees]

I tried to be careful and there was room underneath the frames. I felt like I needed to get the frames in the hive for the bees to climb up on. Thanks for watching and thanks for the comment.

[@kathyhathaway8823]

What kind of bees was in this hive ?? . There looks like you could have got about five splits with all those bees . Good video. Thanks

[@brucesbees]

Not sure what variety they were. Probably just local mutts; a combination of a lot of things.

[@bradgoliphant]

Wow Bruce, you have balls. I don't have the nerve; YET, to manage and handle aggressive bees. Your a real trooper. Great video. I see your working with the very first Flow HIves. Wow, those where part of the fund raiser. How do you like them. I have a brand new FlowHive2 and just love it. So far its working amazing for me.

[@brucesbees]

These hives were a friend of mine’s hives. They were ok but I have also seen the newer ones and they seem much nicer.

[@beckibeesapiaryhoney1856]

Woo, that got'em fired up! Lol Just that made me a subscriber. Lol

[@brucesbees]

Great lol. Thanks!

[@63rube]

If you had drawn comb available would you add it back to both boxes and how many frames in each box?

[@brucesbees]

Probably not and here is why. I think the bees need new frames to draw out. The honey flow will start soon and hopefully the bees will draw the new foundation out quickly. I took some feed up to the new split and hopefully they will use it to get comb drawn quickly. If I was going to use drawn comb I would have put it in the split so the queen would have more space to lay. But I think they will be fine. We shall see! Thanks for your question. It was a good one. I encourage any discussion or thoughts from others so that we can all learn from each other. Thanks for watching!

[@StonewallJackson-n8w]

I would have split it 3 or 4 ways, it was so large.

[@brucesbees]

Not a bad plan. So many options with bees.

[@bonnieclagg8136]

Do you then feed the new colony?

[@brucesbees]

I don’t think I fed them then because there were food sources available. It’s never a bad idea to feed though when a new colony is getting established and I will often do it with splits that I do outside of the honey flow season.

[@johnmurphy380]

Just seen your video now, wondering should the queen have had her wing clipped beforehand so she will not fly back to the original hive, Thanks

[@brucesbees]

I like where you thoughts are here. The one thing to remember is that once a queen mates she typically never leaves the hive again unless she swarms. So she does not know how to get back to the original colony. Clipping of wings o think is primarily used so that if the queen decides to swarm she cannot fly and will either try to leave and crawl back up into the hive or the swarm will end up on the ground or very close to the original colony.

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for watching John. Great question!

[@johnmurphy380]

@@brucesbees Great thank you, I will try this myself later in the spring here in Ireland

[@brucesbees]

Cool deal. Thanks for checking in from Ireland.

[@mikeries8549]

Could make several nucs. Up to 5 with a colony like that. Take what you're dealt and roll with it. Beekeeping is like Las Vegas with stingers. That's an opportunity not a burden. The little nucs are perfect for breeding and once successful move into a bigger box. Fun as heck too! Make lots of bees and the honey sort of just happens.

[@brucesbees]

I am planning on making lots of splits with my actual bees this year. May try to send a few out to Cali next year. Also May try to sell some nucs. I like doing it all. That’s my problem. Can’t figure out what I want to focus on so I try everything!!! Fascinating little critters. 🐝🙂

[@mikeries8549]

@@brucesbees once I complained about shb. Another guy in the club said he just keeps his bees strong and don't have problems. It took me a year to figure out what he said. He said "keep them in the right size box" in a very sneaky way. Hope that helps in your quest for honeybee fullfillment. I'm up in central illinois and it's snowing. Yesterday it was 68F. Not spring quite yet.

[@brucesbees]

Yeah I am still trying to get things figured out. Already learned a few things just from comments here on KZbin. Hopefully will get better over time.

[@beasbeesrva2615]

Mean hive issues aside, I have to agree with some of the other comments regarding the handling of the bees. Frames with queen cells should never be shaken, especially if you are uncertain as to their age. Without having located the queen, each frame should have been treated as if she were on it. Smashing the brood box on the ground to dislodge bees, not so good of an idea. Otherwise good video. Never be afraid to try something new. Hope the split works well for you and the bees calm down.

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for the feedback. Will try to do better in the future. Question...without shaking the bees how would you get them off the frames? Thanks for watching the video. I want share my ideas with others and also learn from them as well. A wealth of knowledge abounds in the world of beekeeping. I am not opposed to a little constructive criticism. Will help me get better. Thanks again and I wish you the best!

[@beasbeesrva2615]

Believe it or not, a large feather like from a turkey or other large bird. Bees don't really like the brush. You only need to do this if you need to get the bees off the frame with the queen cell. In many cases, you just move the frame, bees and all, to the new split. I subscribed.

[@brucesbees]

Good information. Thanks again for your advice and for your subscription.

[@beebob1279]

In a true Taranov all the frames are supposed to be shaken. The idea is to remove ALL of the bees so that there are no nurse bees in the original stand. One suggestion (I've done this before effectively) is to place an empty box and bottom board on the original stand. This way you're not re-shaking the bees. It does take longer than I like and won't do it anymore. I split differently anymore. But it is an effective method.

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for the comment. This is why I called it a “Modified” Taranov Split. Seems to be working out fine. I will probably try a true one later down the road. I really like the concept of a Taranov split but I can see how it is pretty slow. Thanks again for checking out the video!

[@maureenryan2138]

question then comment, what state/part of the country are you in? I presume you found the queen in that 1st frame you shook the bees from?

[@brucesbees]

Southeast Alabama.

[@brucesbees]

Great question! With this type of split you do not have to find the queen. The idea is that you shake all the bees so she will certainly end up in the new box and be taken away. Then a new queen will emerge in the original hive. If you have the time to watch the playlist you can see how thing turned out as the year progressed. Thanks for checking in!

[@Tj-ot4jp]

Question, so now that you've shaken off ALL the nurse bee into the artificial swarm, what is left in the original box to care for and feed the brood, let alone raise a new queen.

[@brucesbees]

Well here is what happens...the foragers all goes back to the original hive and raise a new queen. I have used these principles a few times since then and as far as I know it worked every time except one and I believe somehow the queen got killed in that case. This was the first time I tried this technique. Over a year ago. Everything worked out just fine. Thanks for checking in.

[@krispapas9834]

What if the old queen is still in the old box? Won't that shaking hurt the queen cells?

[@brucesbees]

She should be in the new box because I shook all the bees out by the platform. The queen would not know how to go back to the old box. I think the queen cell is fine but if not there were plenty of eggs in there for them to make a new queen. Thanks for watching!

[@nsmnsm8889]

Hi, was the Flow Hive waxed ?To me looks like the bees doesn't want to except it to fill it with Honey.

[@brucesbees]

I am not sure if they waxed it by I doubt it.

[@carldaniels4827]

why didn't you put the queen excluder on top of the box that you are wanting them to walk in? the queen can't get into the new box, then you tell her good night. replace one of the capped queen cell frame in the new box and now you will have 2 splits, 2 virgin princesses which will produce calmer hives. just a thought.

[@brucesbees]

Not a bad thought. Probably would have worked. If you have the tome to watch the playlist “Dealing with Mean Bees” you can see how things turned out. Everything actually worked quite well in the end. Thanks for the input though. There are so many ways to do things with beekeeping.

[@carldaniels4827]

I watched part 1, part 2. there's always 1 hive in the crowd like that. requeen time. i don't like getting stung but I detest getting stapled. what impressed me most about your video's is that you helped out a friend. awesome job!

[@brucesbees]

Yeah it all worked out well the others show results down the road throughout the year. I don’t know that this technique would work on a regular basis but it did in this case. Re-queening is probably the best way to guarantee desired results. But this technique was fun and worth a try.

[@carldaniels4827]

I use the same method but to fix a laying worker issue. i make them walk in with frames of different stages of eggs, larva, capped brood from another hive and used empty brood frames and 1 frame of undrawn foundation. this changes their behavior and gets them into the working mode. then 2 days later i insert either a mated queen or a capped queen cell. this works 100% of the time.

[@brucesbees]

Hey that sounds like a great idea. Thanks!

[@nsmnsm8889]

I have see a pros will shake the bees in empty box with a Queen extruder on the bottom to catch the Queen, it works.

[@brucesbees]

Many ways to do it. Thanks for checking in.

[@tonyjetton8352]

I have a mean hive in the same condition as this one. It contains capped queen cells. I went through it yesterday. Though I could not find the queen. I may have just missed her. Or she may have already swarmed. This is my plan: Put a the new box of drawn comb in the old location and move the old hive to a new location. That will save myself all that modified Taranov Split work. The foragers will return to the old location and I will give them eggs in newly drawn comb from a better behaved hive. The nurse bees will stay in the old hive at its new location. I suspect they will be easier to deal with because they are younger and fewer in number. I will find the old queen, if she has not swarmed, and kill her. I intend to leave 2 queen cells in the old hive. I want to see if the new queen with the old genetics still makes mean bees.

[@brucesbees]

Sounds like a good plan.

[@tonyjetton8352]

@@brucesbees We shall see. I now have a 10 frame deep box containing 9 frames of empty comb and one frame of brood from the original hive sitting on the site for the original hive. The original hive minus the one brood frame is sitting 3 yards north of the original location. The two halves a less aggressive than the original hive. They are still plenty mean. I cut out 3 frames of drone brood from the original hive to rid the area of their genetics. The field bees are collecting in the old location though a few did find the old hive. Tomorrow I think I will tear down every queen cell and give both have a frame of eggs from a less aggressive colony. The remainder of the day I am gonna nurse all these bee stings I dotting me.🙂

[@brucesbees]

I hear ya lol. That sounds like a plan that should work

[@MrHoneybeeScratcher]

I have to concur with everyone else's comments

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for watching. Thanks for the comment.

[@cascadegirl4669]

Now what made you do that in that way? Why would you not locate the queen instead of all of that shaking and dumping? Painful to watch.

[@brucesbees]

There were so many bees I never found her. By shaking all the bees out I know the queen was in the new box that I took away. When you do a Taranov Split the bees actually snap into swarm mode. They got much calmer by the way almost immediately. The bees that would have swarmed stayed with the queen in the new box and the foragers/field bees returned to the hive where most of the brood and eggs etc are. They will made a new queen while the queen and rest of the bees will establish a new hive in another spot. If you watch more of the videos on the playlist you will see that everything worked out to perfection. You can also google “Taranov Split”. This was not a true Taranov Split but the principle is the same. Last year I did two similar to this and two “by the book” Taranov Splits which I did not record. May try to video a true one this year. They all worked. All this having been said I try a lot of new things. Most of the time things work out well and sometimes they don’t. You mention the sharing and dumping. People “shake” bees all the time. I have learned a lot over the past year and would probably do things a little differently now but if you are making a lot of splits or catching swarms etc there will be some shaking and at times dumping involved. Thanks for watching and I hope you continue to watch. I am always evolving as a beekeeper and trying to get better. What you see here on this channel is real stuff. I show things that work but also at times I will share mistakes I have made. Thanks again. Best regards.

[@426superbee4]

he hee what ya want is population but those are to much Yes time to splits could make 3 or 4 from that one if you got the queen cells > i quit the queen excluiders . They became honey excluders i notice you don't use smoke much? That what i use to drive bees where i want em> the brush i don't use much, and there a wrong way and rite way to use the brush > sweep up NOT down on them Got a small 100 mph leaf blower to blow them off honey frames

[@brucesbees]

Yep they were about to swarm I’m afraid. Really needed to split them.

[@426superbee4]

@@brucesbees You got em in time There still heavy in population Keep a eye on em. and keep the honey out of the brood boxes so they can make BEES all you want is a little nectar and pollen in the brood box with empty cells for the queen can checker board them to To make them grow> How i keep frames of comb ready MAKE EM WORK that way you don't loose your construction bees. the comb builders. cheers bro

[@privatebubba8876]

An Ohio State U study showed using a QE with an upper entrance yields as much honey as a hive with no QE.

[@brucesbees]

Cool thanks for the info.

[@intheshell35ify]

It was a healthy hive.

[@brucesbees]

Yes it was. Ended up with 2 healthy hives.

[@leroymiller544]

Giving them the old earthquake test. Wow

[@brucesbees]

Goodness lol. Thanks for checking in!

[@smellygoatacres]

Guess this can be an example of what not to do. Crushing queen cells, beating bees half to death on the ground. Very clumsy.

[@brucesbees]

Of course lol.

[@MikeChamplin]

Why not just shake the frames off into the new box? What value is there in making them find their way up the cover to the box? Not challenging what you did - just don't understand the process logic. thanks

[@brucesbees]

My understanding is that when you shake the bees off and allow them to go up the platform it allows the foragers to go back to the original hive. The younger bees and queen stay with the new box, basically imitating a swarm. The behavior of the bees attitude of the bees changed from aggressive to that of a swarm as I proceeded through the process. This is my understanding of the process and what I have learned about Taranov Splits. This was not a true Taranov Split but I think the principle is basically the same. I hope this explains my logic a little bit. Will see how it turns out. Thanks for watching and thanks for your comment.

[@thechariotcard]

You are crushing the bees & stepping on them....is this intentional?

[@brucesbees]

Of course I was not intentionally stepping on bees. Everything worked out well in the end.

[@brucesbees]

Zeljko Trifunovic I am curious to know how many hives do you have?

[@kittykat5797]

Why would you think an experienced beekeeper would intentionally squish bees? You watched the same video I did, there were sooooo many bees, there's not going to be a way to have zero casualties when dealing with a hive about to swarm. He wasn't tap dancing all over the bees but he also couldn't stand in one spot all day and move at a snail's pace to do this job. You could see the weather in the video and i'm shocked that the rain managed to hold off long enough for him to get the job done, no one wants grumpy wet bees especially when they're already so aggressive

[@brucesbees]

Kitty Kat Thanks for having my back here. I wonder how many bees these people actually have.

[@sheilamclaughlin963]

Zap soon as Ivan get queens I would split them both again

[@brucesbees]

I will be posting a final video soon showing the results of these two hives and how they are doing. Fun stuff. Will get it out ASAP.

[@ascher40]

To re-queen and do splits is an easy task. You went to a lot of trouble on this video. With that many bees, you could make up plenty of nuc boxes. Put honey frames, pollen and brood frames into each box. Find original queen and remove her. (if its an aggressive hive) Put a queen cell in that box if you remove the original queen. Leave one box in position for the foragers. Place a queen cell into each nuc box. Simple. You could make a lot of splits from all of those bees.

[@brucesbees]

Yes that is true. However I am trying to get the aggressive bee situation worked out for a friend. These are not my bees. His main goal is honey in the original hive. By doing this type of split I was able to get the original queen out of there without having to actually find her but leave plenty of brood behind with eggs and a queen cell. Hopefully the new queen will hatch and get mated with drones and the offspring will be more gentle. In the meantime with all the brood I am hoping the population will peak during honey flow and fill that Flow Hive super right up. I could have easily made 3 or 4 walk away splits from this hive but that was not my goal. I checked the split after a week and made a video on how they are doing. They are in a remote location and seem to be doing well. I plan to go into the original colony soon and see how it is doing. Thanks for you comment and feedback. There is some valuable information there for those wanting to maximize splits.

[@ascher40]

@@brucesbees Oh ok.....Hope it all worked out ok. I have read some aggressive comments to you on this subject and i thought you give a bit of a 'mouthfull' back to them, but you were polite....i was surprised that you remained polite. Enjoy your bees, like i enjoy mine.... :)

[@brucesbees]

Thanks man. I wonder if some of these people even have bees. As we know there are so many ways to do things and some beeks are highly opinionated. Comes with the territory I guess. Whatever works for each person is what they should do. Everyone has different goals. I am willing to try a lot of things and at times I fail but I am not afraid to share with others my failures and my successes. Hopefully we can all learn together. That is my goal. Hope all goes well for you too with whatever you are trying to accomplish!

[@ascher40]

@@brucesbees lol....Yes i agree that many on here are highly opinionated. They keep me interested on youtube though, by reading their many varied comments.....haha

[@brucesbees]

No doubt...

[@stevenlawrence1946]

This best action would have been to re-queen and place/shake the bees at the entrance.

[@brucesbees]

That’s one solution. I needed to split the hive anyway because there were just too many bees. I just did a video on how the split that I moved to a remote spot is doing (posted yesterday) and will check the original hive in a few days. I observed it from the outside and it seems to be doing well. Left lots of brood in there so hopefully it won’t skip a beat. We will see how it turns out. Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching !

[@MegaDavyk]

Why not just shake them straight into a new hive and let the flyers go home.

[@brucesbees]

Good question... I think the idea behind the Taranov, or “Modified” Taranov Split in this case, is that the bees are snapped into swarm mode and act as if they have swarmed. They immediately got calmer and clustered together. If they form a swarm and then you bump them or shake them on the ground in front of the new hive they will go in with the old queen and the hive left behind will form their own queen. In this case it worked perfectly. Later in the year I did a couple of “true” Taranov splits that also worked perfectly. This video was my first attempt at doing one. In theory just shaking the bees in the box might have worked as you say. I might have to try that sometime. Thanks for the input!

[@MegaDavyk]

@@brucesbees If you get all the nurse bees and the queen out of there they won't be thinking about swarming for a long time no matter how you do it.

[@brucesbees]

You could be right. Makes sense.

[@georgegoertzen4723]

Didn't you just get rid of all your nurse bees doing it this way?

[@brucesbees]

Great question and yes! It is how swarms work. From what I understand swarms are actually made up of primarily young bees. You basically snap the hive into swarm mode. The older bees return to the hive. As the brood hatched out those bees will become the nurse with the new queen and the young bees that leave with the old queen will build wax and help get the hive established. The split worked to perfection as both hives became strong and made it through the winter. One of them is a little weak now but I think they swarmed.

[@jethrobodine9617]

Good 60k of bees

[@intheshell35ify]

If you can get by with jeans, it ain't a mean hive. Don't give me no macho bs. I got a hive that you couldn't get the top cover off of without a full NON VENTED bee suit.

[@brucesbees]

Ok.

[@intheshell35ify]

@@brucesbees you where supposed to tell me to stop being a little bitch and go inspect my "mean hive" so I can give them what they need. 💪😡😬. 🐔💩😞

[@kenhedges]

Aren't your queen cells from the original nasty hive? If so, you have the same genetics of the original queen. You're likely just going to end up with the same genetics. I would have put queens cells from a nicer hive.

[@brucesbees]

Yes they were and that would have been a good idea but after I split the hive both of the new hives calmed way down. Not sure why they were so crazy. I was prepared to requeen of necessary. If you have the chance to watch the “Mean Bees” playlist you can see how things worked out as the year progressed. Thanks for checking in!

[@kayfarley977]

This would have to be about the worst way to split a strong hive . What he should have down was make up 4 X4frame nucs with some day old eggs in each an moved 3 of them to another location and leave one behind to pick up the bees in flight all in one single operation . No need to find the queen but if you did see her pull her head off head . Job done in less than one hour.

[@brucesbees]

Yep that’s one way to do it for sure but my objective was different than what you describe. Was not trying to maximize splits or set a speed record. If my objective was to do as you said then I probably would have had a similar approach. I do appreciate you watching though. And thanks for your comment. It will probably help others who are trying to accomplish maximum splits in minimum time.

[@petercampbell1478]

What happens to the full size super? I would have kept that queen based on her laying capacity alone. Another super on top earlier may have given the original hive more work to do and kept them quieter but queen cells indicate it is too late.

[@brucesbees]

I did the split and took the queen away. Both hives ended up surviving. The hive that had the queen in it was still alive more than a year later last time I checked.

[@Ciara12234]

What is that call,killing an banging bees and queen cells ..

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for watching. How many colonies of bees do you have Julie?

[@calumgrigor9547]

Lol. Or you could have just moved the whole brood box 6 feet away and left the super over the two frames with QCs to achieve exactly the same result without shaking them out. If it started to rain there is 50% your aggression right there.

[@brucesbees]

I guess that’s one option but these bees have been aggressive for some time. That is the reason my friend asked me to help. The weather was actually not bad until right towards the end. By then the aggression had gone way down and they were acting just like a swarm. Thanks for the suggestion. Will keep it in mind.

[@brucesbees]

I also wanted to keep a lot of brood at the original location because I am trying to help the fix the issues at that location. If I took most of the brood away with the queen then it would take awhile for this hive to bounce back. Would rather have the weaker hive with the old queen at the remote location. I left lots of brood in the original spot with eggs and queen cells. Hopefully the population will remain strong and they will hatch out a new queen, be less aggressive and not skip a beat. We will see. There are so many ways to address different issues. I hope this one works. I think it will.

[@calumgrigor9547]

@@brucesbees once the new hive has a laying queen you can recombine them, so you don't lose any honey crop or strength. A demaree split would also work fine, just needs an additional floor. There are a couple of ways to solve that problem without shaking them out. But if they were wild for a while you should remove all brood and just supply a frame for them to raise from, from a friendly hive, and less swarmy one at that. ..

[@brucesbees]

Cool. Thanks for checking in. Will see how things go.

[@ratpackcolorado]

Yep I thought u requeend with different genetics. Queen from mean queen means mean queen

[@ratpackcolorado]

Yep nurse bees went to old queen I might have done it other way round

[@brucesbees]

I wanted to get her out of there and would have requeened her if still mean. The other hives for the most part are not aggressive so I was hoping the new queen would mate with drones that would produce more gentle bees. It seemed to work. The old queen in a new location seems to be working as well but I am not opposed to requeening if they get super aggressive. However, she is a laying machine and that hive is booming so I hope to be able to keep her around for awhile. I am fortunate that it has worked out this well so far!

[@timporter3169]

I think it's a mean bee keeper

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for watching. How many hives do you have?

[@timporter3169]

@@brucesbees only one just getting started seemed like you were a little aggressive with your bees I've watched a lot of bee videos

[@ghostofvalor4349]

kind of rough with the bees ...

[@gregwaskom552]

That looks like a big waste of time. Would have been so much faster to have taken the queen and put her in nuc. And one of those good queen cells into another nuc. Leave a queen cell in the old box. 1 into 3. All have nurse bees and brood.

[@brucesbees]

I hear ya. Looked for the queen. Didn’t see her. That was actually what I was trying to do at first was find the queen. There are so many ways to do splits. Since I didn’t see the queen and I really needed to get her out of there thought I would try this technique. I agree. Not the most efficient use of my time but then again, no one ever accused me the most efficient person in the world. Plan to do a lot of splits this year. Will not use this technique if trying to do several splits for the very reasons you mentioned. If I don’t find the queen will just do walk away splits. Thanks for your comment.

[@brucesbees]

Also needed to leave as much brood in the original box as possible since I am managing these bees for these people.

[@Tj-ot4jp]

Shaking a Queen cell?..really!

[@brucesbees]

Yes can you believe it?! It all worked out exactly as planned. I have learned a lot since then and try to be more careful now though. Don’t use this technique much would probably try to brush the bees off if I did it now. But the bees seem to be pretty resilient. Even if I damaged the queen cell they can always make emergency cells out of young larvae. Thanks for checking in.

[@mwarrenhall7099]

You need to be better prepared when doing splits and handling queen cells...

[@brucesbees]

This was a long time ago. I have learned a lot since then. But everything turned out ok with this split.

[@wags9777]

I'm not a handler but all the other videos show a MUCH lighter touch . Almost like the other handlers care about what there doing. Just keep slamming!

[@brucesbees]

Do you have bees?

[@wags9777]

@@brucesbees I jumped the gun with that comment. I can tell by watching your other videos that you do care. I would like to retract my off-the-cuff statement. I watched your last video and I had no right to publicly Bosch what you're doing so I apologize.

[@brucesbees]

Thank you for your commenting again. If there is one thing that is certain it is that I DO care. I realize that I could do better at times and am trying to improve. I am glad you were able to recognize this and I hope you will continue to watch future videos. Thanks again and I wish you the best. 🐝🙂

[@brucesbees]

Thanks. I try to call it like I see it and am always trying to improve. I see no reason to paint an inaccurate picture of what I am trying to do. I just do the best I can and maybe can help others along the way. Thanks again for checking in.

[@ofipete]

For goodness sake stop knocking the bees off like you do. It hurts my beekeeper eyes to see you shake em up like that. Use a wide soft brush to sweep them off gently. It’s always worked for me and they don’t get all riled up as bad at that.

[@brucesbees]

It all worked out in the end.

[@dansullivan6183]

Don't split the aggressive hive. Eliminate it! If you don't, the problem will continue and get worse.

[@brucesbees]

Thanks for checking in.

[@brucesbees]

It all worked out ok in the end.

[@stevenklopping748]

Dude , Are you sure you know what your doing ? All foragers will return to the original position , no need to shake everything onto the ground . Also , your queen's genetics will continue with the next generation ..........

[@brucesbees]

If you watch the series of videos you will see that things worked out perfectly. There are a few good videos out there on Taranov splits as well. I performed a couple of these Modified Taraonov Splits and a couple traditional ones last year and had 100 percent success. They work well! Thanks for watching!!!

[@markarnill3437]

Really bad care for the bees and why you didn’t bring a spare brood box with you haven’t got a clue would be a lot easier to do a split and and would be best to kill all queen sells and queen and split the hive and re queen both the hives not impressed with your bee husbandry

[@brucesbees]

The bees were fine. If you watch the whole playlist you will see it all worked out exactly as I hoped. There are different ways to do things. It is amazing how people think theirs is the only way to do things. Anyway thanks for checking in. I am curious though. How many colonies of honey bees do you have?