I would just like to back up what Allen says about 'walk-away' splits.

We use a similar method as our normal way of achiving winter loss
replacement, increase etc.

The variation to Allens method (which we have used) is that we always
find the queen first, and as we have rather fewer colonies than Allen,
AND mainly on single brood boxes, AND all the queens are marked as the
first spring job, it is a task we can undertake in just a couple of
minutes a hive.

Simply place your new hive on the location of the parent hive, add three
bars of assorted age brood, which should be completely free of all
traces of swarm preparations, and fill up with empty (preferrably drawn)
combs. Ensure that the old queen is in this part. Remove the by now
queenless part to another part of the yard, thus allowing all the flying
bees to go back to mother.

Introduce a protected mature queen cell into the old brood nest and
close it up and go away. (Adding extra deeps or supers to either half is
entirely determined by the prevailing conditions.)

At next visit it is normal to find that the avalability of space,
combined with the return of the flying bees, has caused the old queen to
go into overdrive on the laying, returning the colony to full strength
quite quickly. The part with the cell has usually hatched and may even
be laying, but if for some reason the cell fails there has aways been
the emergency cell back up situation. This part has generally had the
majority of the nurse bees and so will usually rear a pretty good
emergency queen.

This is just a slightly more labour intensive variation on Allen's
system, but we find it to be just that bit more reliable in its results.
I appreciate the time (and thus cost) of finding queens in large,
strong, double deep colonies, and, having tried it that way as well,
would not hesitate to endorse Allens view. We operate in a somewhat
different environment and, with singles being the norm in early season,
can afford (just) the time and extra labour to do it our way. Basically
the same idea though!

One small drawback if you keep your bees in populated areas is that the
part raising the young queen can sometimes throw casts. If the protected
cell hatches, but they have also raised emergency cells, it occasionally
happens that a cast is thrown rather than allowing first queen out to
destroy the others. I appreciate that to a purist this can seem bad, and
it does lose you the selected queen, but from our experience it ends up
making little difference to the achivement of the split by seasons end.
The less mature the introduced cell the greater the chance of this
casting happening. If the cell hatches within the first two days or so
the new colony is still depleted of flying bees (which tend to be the
more ill-natured) and acceptance is almost 100%.

To us it is easy, quick, and economical. It is not 10% guaranteed, but
will work well in at least 90% of cases. Thus it is VIABLE, which most
of the more theoretically based, and labour intensive, systems which
will give a higher success rate, are not.

Kind regards to all.

Murray

ps. Have been quiet for a while and will remain so in the most part
throughout the summer. We are well into spring build up here with the
rape (canola) flowering. It is also our third consecutive day of rain
after a good spell, so I have time to sit at the computer this morning
instead of getting out to the bees.
--
Murray McGregor