Increase Hives

[Pharmacyman]

I currently have just 3 hives but would like to increase that number to 5 or 6. I wanted to ask, when you were new how did you increase your hive numbers? I'm not opposed to buying packages or nucs, but I was wondering if a fall split, spring split, or catching swarms next spring would be the best alternative.

[Wally]

Beekeeping is highly personal. What works for one may not work for others. I got my first colony out of the attic of a house. I increased by having people pay me to take the bees not me pay them. Removals may not be ideal for you. An extra 10,000 or so each year, plus 30 to 50 colonies never hurt my wallet at all.

[reedyfork]

Agree that it's a personal choice, but I definitely did not feel the need to buy bees (packages or nucs) after Year 1. Splitting your own colonies, catching/collecting swarms, and eventually getting paid for trap-outs or cut-outs is certainly more rewarding!

[Jacobs]

I would opt for spring splits over fall splits if going the split route. Having strong hives going into winter gives you a better chance of having those bees in spring. There are several good options for early spring splits when drones are around or mated queens can be purchased (queen & a few frames in a nuc, large hive re-queens--walk away splits with eggs in each so the queenless hive re-queens--purchased queen introduced to queenless portion of whatever sized split, etc.).

Catching swarms is a good way to increase numbers as well. I catch some from people who call and I get some from bait hives I have set up near my bees at home. If you are looking for swarm calls, make sure your membership in GCBA is up to date and get on the swarm list in January. Swarm season can start as early as February around here depending on the severity of the winter. If you are only wanting one or two more hives and you put your name on the list, please ask to have your name removed if you don't want more calls. We want folks who call to be able to reach a person and not a voice mail, and to have to call as few list members as possible to get someone who will collect the swarm.

I do know some beekeepers who re-queen strong colonies in late summer and put the best of the old queens in nucs to over winter as back ups. Hives need to be really strong to do this, but the thinking is that having a new queen in late summer means strong laying going into winter, stronger build up in late winter/early spring, and less likelihood of the hive swarming. If any of our members on this forum do this, I would like to hear from them about how it works for them.

[Pharmacyman]

Thanks for the input, Guys! I'm on the swarm call list. I believe I'll stay on that list and in between now and spring also learn more about how to do a spring split.

[Pharmacyman]

February will be here before we know it. What is the best way for me to learn (step by step) how to do these splits? Any classes involving splits coming up? Demonstration at our January GCBA meeting? Video links to share?

[Jacobs]

Check out the GCBA website homepage. We have posted the pdf version of an early season splits presentation given at a recent meeting we had. It is under the "Interesting Sites/Presentations" section of the homepage. Vern Allen is working on putting together an Intermediate Beekeeping course for GCBA, so we may have something in person coming up at some point.

[Pharmacyman]

I found The Dana Stahlman powerpoint on a vertical split very helpful. Thank you. He talks about removing from the mother hive two frames of eggs, larvae, brood with resources, one frame of honey and pollen, and one frame of drawn brood. That is 4 frames total. I have 8-frame boxes. When do I add the other 4 frames?

[Jacobs]

If the weather is warm enough to put those frames into an 8 frame setup, I would put the other 4 in right away so that you avoid burr comb issues by violating bee space. To start, I would have the active frames together and in the center. If temperatures are still cool, I would consider using a nuc---less space for the bees to keep warm with only 1 frame to add even though it is not a vertical split. If hives are as strong as pictured, the double screening should provide the needed heat.