Cameron, Why not do a couple of quick "tilt inspections" to see if there are swarm cells? Have you been seeing drones yet? You are MUCH better to make a split rather than letting them swarm. There is only a chance you will catch them, and even if you do, you still need to go into the original box and remove all but the 2 best queen cells, or you may have multiple after-swarms, reducing the original hive down to almost nothing. Pulling the queen, 2 -3 frames of brood, the attached nurse bees and some food frames will give you awesome results. Move them at least 50 feet away. They will draw comb like you have never seen. Leave 2 good Q cells in the original hive, they will prosper too. A good split will grow incredibly fast, if there is good flow. You can give them a little sugar syrup, too. Either way, watch them and have a nuc super ready to go! They will go from 2 frames to 10 frames incredibly fast. Then you can put them in a regular box if you want. I've never tried dead bees as a lure. Interesting thought. The best lure is old brood comb from a deadout hive, if you have any. Add some Lemongrass on a Qtip is a very good combination. I hope your bees don't swarm while you are gone, and hope you have a great conference. Come back and give us some vids about inspecting for swarm cells, checking for laying space and putting splits into nuc boxes. Those will be interesting to see. The season is here early. Glad to see your continued success. -Tony
Hey Tony, hope you're well, I haven't cracked the deep box propolis because I knew we were going to have a big cold spell ( last night and tonight) I intend doing that in the next few days and based on the early spring here in north GA, im going to start some 2 frame splits and yes seeing drones 👍
Cameron, Why not do a couple of quick "tilt inspections" to see if there are swarm cells? Have you been seeing drones yet?
You are MUCH better to make a split rather than letting them swarm. There is only a chance you will catch them, and even if you do, you still need to go into the original box and remove all but the 2 best queen cells, or you may have multiple after-swarms, reducing the original hive down to almost nothing.
Pulling the queen, 2 -3 frames of brood, the attached nurse bees and some food frames will give you awesome results. Move them at least 50 feet away. They will draw comb like you have never seen. Leave 2 good Q cells in the original hive, they will prosper too. A good split will grow incredibly fast, if there is good flow. You can give them a little sugar syrup, too. Either way, watch them and have a nuc super ready to go! They will go from 2 frames to 10 frames incredibly fast. Then you can put them in a regular box if you want.
I've never tried dead bees as a lure. Interesting thought. The best lure is old brood comb from a deadout hive, if you have any. Add some Lemongrass on a Qtip is a very good combination.
I hope your bees don't swarm while you are gone, and hope you have a great conference. Come back and give us some vids about inspecting for swarm cells, checking for laying space and putting splits into nuc boxes. Those will be interesting to see. The season is here early.
Glad to see your continued success.
-Tony
Hey Tony, hope you're well, I haven't cracked the deep box propolis because I knew we were going to have a big cold spell ( last night and tonight) I intend doing that in the next few days and based on the early spring here in north GA, im going to start some 2 frame splits and yes seeing drones 👍