> Why go through the trouble of a model based on population size? You have
> determine the population-brood ratio. It might be more work than sticking
> to the old rule: when there are newly hatched drones in a colony swarming
> will follow relatively soon. I would split when drones start to be
> abundant.
Why? Well, because it is good to understand what we are doing. I have used
many different splitting approaches, all based on the usual assumptions, and
although they all work, I wonder if I am making best use of the resources
and also minimizing stress on the bees.
I suppose that the stimulus for this question comes from Larry Connor's
"Increase Essential" and also from Mel's articles at
http://www.mdasplitter.com/. I suspect that if I actually read all that
material carefully again, I might find an answer, as I did in checking
Winston's book. Nonetheless, I have learned not to trust the first answers
I get, and to examine the context as well. This group often has insights
which prove useful.
Of course the simple approaches work, but as I said I am wanting to
understand how to optimize, and I don't just want to split once. I am
planning to split several times, as I did last year, but more
scientifically.
Last year, I was 2,000 miles away and used the brute force method. At the
appropriate time in spring, I just called my daughter and asked her to break
every colony in half and walk away. She did that and I later repeated the
process, ending up with 35 hives from 9. This year, I want to see how many
successful, robust splits I can make by the July 21st deadline, and I am
planning to employ mated queens, cells, and not do the walk-aways.
As for understanding what I am doing being more work, I am not sure about
that. Maybe that is true in the short run, but in the long run, not
understanding what I am, doing has proven expensive. I've learned to think
about what I am doing and, often as not, that thinking has saved me work and
losses.
I go into my thinking on various topics of this nature in my diary as I work
on them, so if the question was more than rhetorical and you have a few
hours, you are welcome to visit http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary
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