What are splits?

[Destruckdoz]

Hi, im pretty new to beekeeping, what are splits?

Thanks
Danny

[lively Bee's]

In short it is when you take 1 strong hive and split it into 2 hive's then you have to install a new queen in the new hive.

[thegolfpsycho]

A very simple split is a walkaway.  Ensure there are eggs in both halves, and let the queenless half raise a new queen of their own.

[Beth Kirkley]

Both of those answers are right. Buying a new queen for the new hive you create is faster and a little more reliable.

Beth

[Wombat]

Apparently it is also a good idea to put the weaker hive on the top part of the split. I have heard that during cooler months, the heat generated from the bottom colony rises and helps to insure that the struggling bees up top will have an easier time overwintering.

Don't know if that's just conjecture or not (haven't tried it myself), but it would make sense.

peace
wombat

[Michael Bush]

In cool weather I just try to keep a split in the right size for the number of bees.  I do two frame mediums for my mating nucs and they are a kind of split.  I put in a frame of brood and a frame of honey and a queen cell.  I only tried a nuc on top of a strong hive for overwintering and the moisture was a big problem.  It wouldn't be as much of a problem in the spring as in the winter, I would guess.