When and How to Split a Beehive

Learning how to split a beehive is a useful skill for beekeepers wanting to increase their number of hives or control swarming due to congestion. By dividing a very strong healthy hive into two or more new colonies, you can expand your apiary and have better colony production. This guide walks you through the basics of splitting beehives to reach your beekeeping goals. There are many ways to do it – you have to choose the method best for you.

Whether you are a seasoned beekeeper (like me) or a novice, understanding how to split a beehive is a important part of beehive management. I assure you that there will come a time when you need to consider this process.

Why Split a Beehive?

In most cases, a beehive split involves taking one large colony and dividing it into 2 complete smaller bee families. When done properly, both “halves” of the original colony will grow into productive hives.

This does involve some risk (nothing is certain when managing bees) and it is a bit of work. So, why would a beekeeper want to bother with making hive splits?

Increase Number of Hives

One of the most common reasons for creating hive splits is to take advantage of the bee colony’s Spring build-up. Spring is a natural time of population growth for honey bees.

These growing colonies can easily be divided into 2 parts – allowing the beekeeper to increase their hive numbers. With months of warm weather ahead, each new mini-colony should be able to grow quickly.

Reduce Replacement Costs

It is the rare beekeeper that does not experience some loss of colonies over the Winter season. By creating new colonies through making splits from existing hives, you do not have to buy replacement honey bees.

Reduce Swarming

Another reason to consider splitting your mature hives is swarm prevention or at least reduction of swarming.

A natural part of life, swarming bees is a good thing as far as colony reproduction in the wild. However, beekeepers don’t like the idea of half a colony’s population flying away over the tree tops.

If you have the opportunity, a few hive splits make increase your chances of keeping all the bees at home. You are making the split before they split themselves.

Produce New Queens

Some beekeepers use the strategy of splitting hives as an opportunity to produce new queens. A honey bee colony has the remarkable ability to produce a new queen bee– if they have the resources.

When we make a true split, the older queen is usually moved to a new box. The remaining population of the original hive will need to make make a new queen or you may buy a mated queen bee for the queenless half.

Aids in Varroa Mite Control

Another benefit of splitting a beehive, is that the temporary break in the brood cycle, also provides a break in varroa mite reproduction.

Both halves are busy rebuilding their population. The split with a new queen (or having to make one) will have a span of time when less brood is in the hive for varroa mites to use for reproduction.

Sometimes, beekeepers use hive splitting to aid in reducing mite loads. Not usually enough for complete mite control. But, the break can help slow down mite population growth. Also, if you are wondering when to do a mite treatment, try for a time of little or no brood.

When to Split a Hive

Spring is the optimum time for making a hive split. The time of the “honey flow“ which occurs in Spring in most areas is a natural growth time with plenty of resources available.

Before a colony becomes overcrowded, you should have a plan. If you do not relieve congestion in the brood nest, the bees will. If you are finding queen cells during a mid-Spring hive inspection, you must act.

You may also find yourself needing to split large Summer colonies. However, you must be sure that the smaller colonies have enough time to build and prepare for Winter.

Preparing for The Splits

When splitting a beehive, it is important to remember that we are not only splitting the bees themselves. We are splitting the resources of the colony.

Each new hive start will need to have honey, pollen, and bee brood. In addition, they need enough worker bees to carry on hive tasks. Be sure that your hive has have enough resources to split and still have a sustainable colony for both.

Equipment Needed

For every new hive split, you will need some equipment to house your new bee family. The most common method is to place the split in a full sized “deep” box (10 frame Langstroth)- especially if the weather is warm. In the Spring, both halves should grow quickly.

However, you can use a 5 frame nuc box for new colony starts. This gives them a cozier home to start out in and you can move them to a larger box once colony population rebounds.

Each division should have enough bees to guard the hive and carry on all hive tasks until population starts to grow. Remember, colony population will drop until new bees emerge and this can take several weeks.

Methods of Beehive Splitting

There are many ways of splitting hives and it seems that each beekeeper has a favorite. Some methods have stood the test of time and some a just a bit qwerky – but if it works?

• simple split
• doolittle method
• walk-away split

Simple Split

For myself, the easiest way to make a hive split is to simply split the resources by hand. Making sure each part has brood, food, resources to make or rear a queen bee and a lot of worker bees.

It is not always successful, but works often enough that I keep doing it. However, it is certainly not the only way to get the job done.

Doolittle Method

The Doolittle Method is a common way of splitting hives. I don’t use it but you may find it helpful in your apiary.

1. Remove 5 frames of brood (some open and some capped) but no bees. Brush all the bees off the frames of brood and back into the hive.

2. Put the frames of brood into an extra hive body. Place a queen excluder on the top super box of the mother hive.

3. Now put the box with the frames of brood (no bees) on top of the excluder and close the hive. Over the next few hours, young nurse bees will move up through the excluder to cover the brood. Hopefully, the queen will stay below.

4. Several hours later, you can remove the new split (top box), add a bottom and top and place it in a new location.

Over the next day or so some of those nurse bees will become forager field bees and you can introduce a mated queen. These nurse bees were not foragers previously and they are less likely to return to the original hive.

This works most of the time. It is not my favorite method. I would use it with some extra attention. I would feed the sugar water to bees in the new split (similar to a package).

And I would not wait 4 weeks to check on the queen status. But, I guess that would not be a true walk away – now would it?

Hive Splitting -When You Can’t Find the Queen

Sometimes, we absolutely can’t find our queen bees. Hey, that’s okay. It’s hard to find 1 bee in a hive of 40,000 stinging insects.

This won’t prevent you from making the hive split – but it requires more effort. Carefully, divide the resources of the hive. Again, making sure each half has fresh eggs and food resources.

Return to the hive in 4 or 5 days and very carefully check for queen cell production. If you see queen cells, that is your queenless split. Also, you may find it easier to locate her on the frames in a less populous hive.

Splits in the Same Bee Yard

Beekeepers are often advised to move new splits to another location. This is because any field bees that you move into the new box may not stay. They will feel the urge to return to the original hive location. 

If the new beehive split is moved 2 or more miles away (for a few weeks), the field bees will reorient themselves to the new location. Then, you can return the new colonies to the home yard.

Again, the bees know their location has changed and readjust. This is a best case scenario-but not every beekeeper has this option.

When Hive Relocation Is Not an Option

If you are unable to move your split to another location, a successful split can still be accomplished. You can do it-but you need to pay a bit more attention to the new growing colony. 

Do a quick check on the morning of the day after the split. If you see a low population – you will need to move/shake more nurse bees into the colony.

Done this early, you should not have to worry too much about fighting but a light sugar water spray should calm things down.

Always reduce the hive entrances on colonies with small populations. This helps them defend their home against robbing bees. I am not a big fan of locking new bees up in a hive (for a few days) though some beekeepers do.

Expert Tips

• each half must have a queen honey bee or the resources to make a good queen
• try to include fresh eggs, young bee larva and capped brood
• don’t forget to include a frame of honey and pollen
• many beginner beekeepers fail to include enough worker bees in new splits

FAQs

5 Frame Nuc Hives – excellent tool for the bee yard – houses splits or small swarms

Transportation Nets – great to have if you find yourself needed to move nucs in the car