Roman Hive Split

There was a break in the weather today, so I added another hive. Yesterday we had 3+ inches of rain. Not exactly a good day to work the bees, but I split a really strong hive of Italians. The process was as follows –

  • Two weeks ago I searched for the queen but could not locate her. Both brood boxes were covered with bees and I went through twice.
  • I added a queen excluder on top of the bottom brood box and 2-inch shim with an entrance over that, then the top brood box.
  • Above that I added another queen excluder and a medium honey super.

The shimmed entrance was to give the drones an escape and also allow foragers easier access to the honey super.

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Third Swarm From The Same Hive

I’ve always heard Carniolans have a tendency to swarm. I now believe it. Yesterday I caught the third swarm from the same hive. This one was the second day in a row. Luckily they were lower to the ground, and I’ve become quite experienced in the last week, so it wasn’t that big of a chore.

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