Splits

[Wandering Man]

It has been a while since I've done a split, and none of my resource books goes into much detail, so I thought I'd ask here.

I don't really need to split any of my hives, but I thought it would be good to leave one small hive where my bees are now (Sydneyville) after I've moved my four mature hives to their new home (P&K Bee Ranch).  The plan is to move the mature hives the first week of July.  Even though we will seal the hives with robber screens the night before we move them, I know that there are often foragers who don't make it home and camp out somewhere.  I wanted to leave the nuc or small hive for a few days after the main move to give the overnight campers a place to go, rather than just flying around lost.

We'll give the nuc two frames of brood, two frames of nectar/pollen, and one frame feeder with 1 to 1 sugar syrup.

First Question: We've got one hive that is strong enough to make a nuc from, but 3Reds is wondering if we can put a frame of brood from 2 hives and shake in bees from both hives, or will we cause a war in the box?

Second Question:  We plan on doing the split Saturday.  We've ordered a queen that should arrive either Tuesday or Wednesday.  Should we be worried about the bees in the nuc abandoning the brood and flying back home?  I think I remember that the nurse bees should stay and we will likely lose all or most of the foragers.

[Bakersdozen]

Question 1: No, there shouldn't be a war.  That's how the big beekeeping operations do it. 
Question 2:  Yes, foragers will go back to the parent colony.  The nurse bees won't leave the brood unattended.  I don' t know if it's logistically possible for you, but could you bring some workers back from ranch to the nuc box?

If it's possible, you could move your colonies really early in the morning.  That would eliminate the need for a nuc to catch the foragers left behind.

You didn't say, but will you be moving the nuc to the ranch eventually?  If you are planning on moving it, then it doesn't matter what kind of feeder you have on that colony.  I am not a big fan of frame feeders.  I prefer feeder buckets or bottle feeders placed on top of the inner cover with an extra box on top.  In a nuc, a frame feeder doesn't leave much room for the queen to lay. 

[Wandering Man]

Yes, the plan is to move the hives early in the morning.  The last time I did a move like this, there were still bees coming back to the hives for two or three days, even though I had locked everything up after dark/before daylight.

I was worried about the lack of space, too, with a frame feeder.  I'm thinking about going with a full sized box so I can add a few extra frames for the new queen.  One ten frame hive box is still easier to move than the long langs the other bees are in.

It would be feasible for me to add more bees after the move.  I will be moving this new hive onto the new property after a few days. 

[Bakersdozen]

You could time the split to coincide with the move, but you have a queen coming prior to that and it might make it more complicated and stressful for you if you attempt to do it all at once.
If you go with a 10 frame box you will need some workers for sure.  Don't give them more room than they can handle.  I am going to presume small hive beetle is a problem there.  SHB could dominate in that situation as well as robbers.
I have placed Boardman feeders, with a jar of sugar syrup, on top of the inner cover with an extra box on top.  That works too if that's what you have on hand.

[Mikey N.C.]

Make sure robbing screen is closed