> I enjoyed your post and am most interested in your comparison of
> 'grow your own'  vs purchased queens.  I am also impressed that you are
> adding the 4th box already.

Not all need even a third.  Some hives don't look any better than packages,
and my packages look sick).  Depends mostly on the stock and the yard
location.  Many hives are still plugged with fall feed.

In our local area, about 1/3 the hives are splittable (see below).  Gotta
pat that Brown guy from Auz on the back.  His three pounders from last year
are bodacious!  Split them two weeks ago now and the *splits* still look
better than some of the unsplit hives from various commercial stock I've
accumulated over the last year or two.

Anyhow, here's what we are doing these days: we break the strong hives (bees
on 5 or 6 bottom bars and brood in all stages in at least two standard
boxes) in half and set the split onto the ground tight beside the parent
hive -- or into an empty space in the four packs if it is cool they are not
flying enough that we are worried about them all going to the original
stand.  There are details on my web pages, as I recall under spring
management.  http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/

We've done about 200 in the last few days, and expect to do another 800 or
so over the next two weeks.  (That is above and beyond the splits done on
Terry's packages that got Hawaiian queens).

Simultaneously, we are grafting and raising cells.  The plan is to use the
cells to speed up and augment the natural process.  When our cells are
ready, we will go to recent splits (four days old or more) and do a quick
check for the queenless half and pop in a cell.  That cell will be a bit
ahead of the natural emergency cells, and -- if good -- will be the new
queen.  If not, then the emergency cells provide a backup.

If we have lots of cells and start to catch up -- it's always hard to
project the final production of cells because of unpredictable cell
acceptance in cell builders at this time of year -- we won't  bother
checking for the queenless half; we'll just pop a cell into both halves and
save time.

This latter method also has a remote chance of superceding the queen in the
queenright half.  It is not uncommon for the queens in hives that are fast
in building to have the queen peter out about now, so in those cases, our
second cell may not be wasted.

> I wish mine needed another box.  We know that in your
> climate (mine for sure) mating weather is hard to come by this time of
year.
> Have you had any difficult getting mated queens from Nature this early in
May?  In
> addition, we have very few drones this time of year.  Lots on the way but
very
> few mature drones.

Well, we are just now making the splits, so it will be about two weeks until
the queens need drones.  There are some drones around now, and they are
emerging daily.  By then there should be plenty of mature ones from the most
advanced hives.  We need about 2,000 drones per yard and I can see them
hatching as we split.  To get 2,000 drones we need only one or two frames of
drone brood, and as you know, we aren't big on culling every frame with a
few drone cells, so we have lots.

> I would welcome the opportunity to split and walk away for you are right -
using
> mated queens takes a lot of visits.  I chose to use mated queens because I
can
> count on them being available more or less when I need them.

Why not try some walk-away splits from your strongest hives right now?
You'd be surprised how they add up if you do one here and one there as you
are going through the yards.

If you happen on a yard that is not worth splitting because there are only a
few hives ready, and the trips back with queens etc. won't be worth it --
but there are a few boomers that are ready with bees on the bottom of 5 or 6
frames and brood in all stages in both boxes -- just split them, mark them
and check them sometime after 21 days for eggs & brood.  I think you will be
pleased.

Then follow them through the season and winter to see if they measure up.
Some people claim that emergency cells are inferior, but none of them have
had the (Andy call them 'wayvos') to back up their claims with more than old
wives tales (my apologies to old wives), so you'll have to prove it for
yourself that I'm right (along with Charles Mraz).

In the fairly rare case that the queenless half stays queenless for more
than 3 weeks, then just reunite them or use the queenless half as a booster
for a weak split somewhere in the yard.

As for the hives that do not get strong enough to split soon, we'll have to
mark them and requeen them somehow with better stock.  I'd not let them
raise their own.  Maybe we will just take three or four of them and stack
them up for a week so the queens will eliminate the worst of their number
and so they can get some brood going, then split them down again using
cells.

No way I'm gonna waste my life hunting queens.

allen