Ensure queenrightness in splits

A critical aspect of successful hive splitting is ensuring at least one split is queenright, meaning it has a queen. When splitting a hive, beekeepers must ensure that either the original queen is placed in one split, or that the queenless split is provided with a new mated queen or a queen cell (a developing queen). Queenlessness in a split leads to colony decline and eventual failure. Careful inspection to locate the queen during splitting or provision of a queen source is essential for establishing viable splits. Queen cages or queen cells are used for controlled queen introduction.