In a message dated 9/4/98 5:52:24 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:
> I just found this list. Here's a little about our bees. We currently =
> have one hive of Midnite bees, which we purchased this year(March) and =
> put them in short hive bodies(6"). We live in the mountains of North =
> Carolina. The hive seems healthy to me, but I am a new bee keeper. I =
> would like to divide the hive now so that I will have two hives this =
> next year. Is this a good time? What is the best way to tell? I have =
> a location about 1 mile away that I can move the split hive to. =20
I wouldn't hesitate to split hives here in the low country of South
Carolina, but I have a lot of experience, plenty of syrup, and good fall
pollen sources. It would definitely be more risky in the mountains this late
in the season. If you are willing to invest plenty of syrup to get them
raising lots of young bees very soon, you might come out very well. I'd
suggest making one weaker (three frames of brood) and place it on a screen
over the stronger, with the entrance in the opposite direction. The weak one
gets heat from the stronger, and may pick up a little drift as well. I've
wintered quite a few nucs over stronger hives, and they usually come on very
strong and fast in the spring, without any urge to swarm, due to the young
queens.
Don't let them raise a queen this late; there isn't time to get the
population built back up. Give them a mated queen.
All said, I still wonder, especially if you are in the northern part of
the state, or at higher elevation, where winter will be more severe, if it
wouldn't be wiser to wait until spring. You can add extra brood boxes in March
and feed them heavily, until the boxes are full of brood, then easily split
them. You might have difficulty getting early queens, but you can raise them
yourself, or just let the bees raise them, much easier in the spring.
[log in to unmask] Dave Green Hemingway, SC USA
The Pollination Scene: http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html
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Jan's Sweetness and Light Shop (Varietal Honeys and Beeswax Candles)
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