Splitting, or dividing, colonies is a common practice for beekeepers to help prevent swarming, and is an excellent tool to increase colony numbers and compensate for previous winter losses. Swarming is a normal sign of a productive and strong colony, but it can pose a problem for many beekeepers and severely depress honey crops due to loss of bees. Swarming is when the queen, along with the majority of worker bees leave to establish a new nest, for example in a neighboring tree or shed. Despite the many tools available to prevent swarming - including creating additional space with supers and removing queen cells - the most reliable tool is to divide a colony before it swarms.
Splitting a colony can be a daunting task, particularly for beginners. Above is a video that outlines step-by-step instructions of a simple technique to split a colony, without needing to move or shake frames of worker bees. This technique involves five steps: (1) deciding when to split, (2) equipment prep, (3) finding the queen, (4) splitting the colony’s resources (pollen and honey), and (5) switching locations. Read more: Split My Colony in 5 easy steps. Bee Culture, September 2020, 40-42. References Evans, KC. 2020. Split My Colony in 5 easy steps. Bee Culture, September 2020, 40-42. pdf Evans, KC. 2020. Penn State Extension LearnNow video, https://youtu.be/rTvH1zyIAvY
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