How To Split Your Beehive With Queen Cells

Making Splits with Queen Cells - How to Split your Beehive - How to Split Bees - Splitting Bees

In this video, I show you how to make a simple split, if you find queen cells in your hive. If you want to know how to split your bees or how to split your beehive, this video gives you simple guidance to help you making splits with queen cells.

If you find swarm cells and you want to know how to split your beehive, this video will show you how to make a nuc with your mated queen and leave queen cells in your new hive.

Swarm cells are a useful way of producing mated queens without a dedicated queen rearing set up.

We use various queen rearing methods, but making splits with queen cells is an excellent way of making queens without grafting.

Queen rearing for beginners can be really challenging, so making splits with queen cells is a great way to make increases, without the need for mated postal queens or grafting.

Making a nuc with the mated queen and leaving the queen cells in the hive to produce a virgin queen is the standard approach to making splits. How to split a beehive is a really useful skill to help you make increase in the apiary.

When you are adding queen cells to nucs or adding queen cells to splits, be careful with the frames so the larvae aren't dislodged.

My method on how to split a colony of bees or how to split a beehive gives you the ability to make increase in your apiary using very little resources.

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We are based in North Wales and manage around 150 colonies of bees, plus nucleus colonies.

We produce Great Taste Award winning honey and sell nucleus colonies to members of the public.

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On our channel you can find information on making splits with swarm cells, making increase with queen cells, grafting larvae, foulbrood and disease inspection, honey extraction and machinery, top tips for beginners, products reviews, instructions and guidance plus much more.

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We cover all beekeeping topics ranging from queen rearing, disease recognition/control, honey extraction, swarm management/collection, how to make splits and much more!

My personal favourite aspects of beekeeping are selecting queens for rearing, rearing queens for mating, making up nucs for overwintering and collecting swarms.

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[wes]

Great video. I have known this to be called a walk away split. I’m in the US. I just did this to 3 of my hives last week.

[danielharvey]

Exceptional content, great. Following you from the US, I live on Lake Superior getting ready for winter. Techniques you demonstrate in beekeeping are global. Thank you

[veragiles]

Thanks for such a clear video. Now I need to check my hives for capped honey frames acting like a follower board!! Live and learn!

[eternall]

what a star you are mate! this video has given me the solution I was looking for! love your accent too! haha

[joelklinker]

Thank you incredibly clear instructions very much appreciated

[robcrickett]

Just brilliant Lawrence. I have made your underfloor entrances for our hives here in the monastery, and also I loved your magnifying of the cells and eggs-embryo in another clip of yours. Your teachings are soooo good!

[JOSIANGREENVLOGS]

Very useful video.Expect more such videos

[chrissteinbacher]

Excellent video from a fellow 🐝 keeper in North Carolina! I enjoy learning from 🐝 keepers from around the world.

[JohnStraussmusic]

That was a great video - thanks for sharing

[ericbussert]

Excellent, I had to do something similar here today as well. Your stream apiary sounds like a good place relax after working your bees.

[grahamkingsland]

Great video. I am quite new to all this so following with interest. Lots to learn!

[TalRohan]

I like it...nice and simple, no complicated stuff and succinct. Great video.

[strugglingbeekeepermarkcot]

Great video I am going to do a split today. Very informative video.

[seanloughranent]

Great video. Could you have kept the old queen in the original hive and moved over the queen cell frame

[Shakingstevesallotment]

Good video, I however do it slightly differently, move queen and frame of food, and new frames, I dont give brood, as they dont take brood in a normal swarm

[paulironmonger]

Hi Laurence, another superb video thank you very much. I’ve had a 5 frame nuc in a standard brood box for 2 weeks. Did weekly inspection today expecting to think of adding super, but found 2 queen cells filled with royal jelly (couldn’t see any larvae) which took me by surprise. I have 4 full frames of brood in all stages, 2 full frames of stores, 2 newly drawn frames and 2 undrawn. Because I saw queen, I knocked down the q cells. Not sure where to go with this (new keeper), hence found the vid really informative. Could you please advise me? Thank you. Paul

[TheFixIsIn-fejy]

You shouldn't be turning the queen cells sideways, you should keep them upright so you don't drown them, keep the cell upright at all times, you don't want to kill the cell before you get it split.

[joshuasherrin]

Thank for this one. I was taught to leave the queen in the original place so that field bees returned to her and then remove and take all over frames / bees away (as as you did but reverse the boxes). Any harm or better outcome doing it either way? Thanks

[danielwagner]

You forgot to mention where you put the the new box? Do you leave it there or move it somewhere else and where? How far away?

[clarabelbee]

Thanks, this is a great video. Do you have to move the nuc more than 3 miles? just wondering as lots of the bees will be nurse bees would they be ok in the same apiary but a different position? And then would they orientate to the new position or would they still fly back?