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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
Aaron Morris <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 9 Feb 2001 09:24:02 -0500
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> Can we split the hives just when the honey flow starts into two ....

A better plan might be a shook swarm.  Place an empty shallow super with
foundation on the original hive stand, with queen excluder and honey supers.
Move the original hive to a different location in the same yard, locate the
queen in the original hive, place her in the foundation super on the
original stand and shake 2/3 to 3/4 of the bees into the foundation super on
the original stand.  Be sure to leave enough bees in the original hive to
care for the brood that remains with the original hive.  Your hive has now
swarmed to its original location.  The bees will quickly draw the foundation
and commencing raising brood and fill your honey supers.  Your original hive
(now queenless) will commence raising a new queen.  You may let them raise
their own (chances are thery're already in the process anyway - you probably
already have swarm cells) OR you can cut out swarm cells (if any) and
introduce a new queen of known lineage.

At the tail end of the flow you can put everything back together by moving
the original hive back to original location, dispatch the original queen in
the now-drawn foundation super, which is placed atop of a queen excluder on
the original hive.  As the brood hatches out the bees will fill it with
honey.  Your hive has swarmed, your original hive now has a new queen, you
have kept your harvest, and your bees have all stayed where you wanted them.

These are condensed instructions.  Read about shook swarming in a good test.
This method works very well in my location (upstate New York).  I don't know
if this is a good method in Jordan.

Aaron Morris ==- thinking there's more than 1 way to keep a bee!

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