> ... it is not wise to make splits now.  I live
> in northern Illinois and we usually think we are pushing our luck if we
> split them after the first of June.  I would expect this to be good
> advise for your area.

Well, I have to disagree and in fact I'll be making splits this weekend in
upstate NY (Saratoga region).  There is still ample time for splits in this
area to build up sufficiently to overwinter on their own, and if they don't
build up as I anticipate, the splits can be successfully overwintered over a
Snelgrove board atop established hives.  Admittedly, the Snelgrove wintering
may be an advanced method for a first year beekeeper.

In Vermont (where winters can be even more severe than upstate New York), Kirk
Webster is building a successful bee breeding program making MANY splits at
this time of year which he overwinters as 4 frame nucleus colonies.  I've had
mixed results overwintering these small nucleus colonies, but Kirk's been at it
longer than I.  Part of his strategy is to use the harsh winters to cull weak
stock.

There was a lot of discussion on BEE-L starting around this time last year
about spring vs fall splits.  Last year I was in the spring only camp, but
after some success with fall splits last year I can be found more often hob
nobbing at the fall split campfire.  Question is, when does fall start?  Well,
based on mixed results with small samples I'd say your chances for success are
proportional to how early you set up your splits, provided you don't set them
up too early.  Splits set up with queen cells in June can build up nicely and
overwinter well. Splits set up in June with mated queens build up too quickly
and are likely to swarm prior to winter in which case I suspect the swarm fails
and I'm sure the split fails (been there, done that).

There are a lot of variables in picking a cut off date for making splits: first
and obviously, where are you located?  Then, your queen (cell or mated queen).
Timing; how close to September 1? That's the absolute cut off date I'd use in
my neck of the woods, depending on how big I make my split and what I put into
it (eggs, sealed brood, stores, how many of each and how many bees and of what
age)?  Is your split to stand alone or atop an established hive?  And then
there are the unknown variables: will your queen cell mate successfully?  Will
your introduced queen be accepted?  How severe will be your up coming winter?
Got mites?

Seems like there are more questions than answers.  This is one of those issues
where it's good to get advice, better to get advice from a neighboring
beekeeper (a plug for joining a local beekeeping association), but you'll never
do better or learn more than you will by using that advice to prepare for your
lessons from the school of hard knocks.

Cindy, perhaps you might experiment with one of your hives and leave the other
alone.  Following such a strategy, it is possible to achieve your goal of 4
hives by next spring with the two you have now.  Remember, it's better to go
slowly and succeed than quickly and fail.

Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee!