I received an email from SEAsia asking for some advice on splits, which
I will provide, but...

Maine is not quite tropical, even though we feel that anything south of
Portsmouth, NH fits that definition. So, for those of you in tropical
climates, like New Jersey :), I would appreciate your comments, advice
on the following- if there are differences from temperate climate
beekeeping:

1. Starting new colonies from packages, specifically how many brood
boxes and feeding.

2. Swarm management

3. when to add honey supers.

4. If a single brood box, do you use queen excluders or how to you keep
the queen out of the supers.

5. any other advice for tropical beekeeping, like a good book that deals
specifically with that climate.

The individual has put his packages in single brood boxes and is now
having swarms, so it seems that he needs to add supers and maybe pull
some frames to reduce crowding in the brood box. In Maine, I would tell
him to add another brood box, but I seem to recall that many tropical
beekeepers keep their operations on a single brood box. So I would like
to pass on the correct information. Also, he reads this list so your
advice will get to him directly.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, ME