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How to Split a Bee Hive and When to Do It
Learn when to split a bee hive, how to tell a colony is ready, and how walk-away splits and splits with a purchased queen work, step by step.
Pests & Swarms
Swarms & Splits
6 guides, starting with How to Split a Bee Hive and When to Do It.
Bee Bearding on the Hive: Heat Relief or Swarm Warning?
Why bees cluster in a beard on the front of the hive, how to tell bearding from swarming or washboarding, and what to do when you see it.
How to Attract a Swarm of Honey Bees With a Bait Hive
Set up a bait hive to attract a honey bee swarm: cavity size, old comb, lemongrass oil, placement, timing, and what to do once the bees move in.
How to Increase the Bee Population in Your Hive
Ways to build up the bee population in a hive: a strong queen, food, space, mite control, plus adding bees through splits, nucs, or a swarm trap.
Reading Bee Behavior at the Hive Entrance
Learn what bees do at the hive entrance: foraging, orientation flights, fanning, washboarding, bearding, robbing, and swarming, and what each may tell you.
Swarm Cells in a Bee Hive: How to Spot and Handle Them
What a swarm cell is, how it differs from supersedure and emergency cells, when they appear, and what beekeepers commonly do when they find them.
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