Verify queen status in every split

Before closing up your splits, confirm that one half has the original queen and the other has a viable path to queenrightness -- either a newly introduced mated queen, a ripe queen cell (capped and at least 12 days old), or frames containing fresh eggs and young larvae under 3 days old from which workers can raise emergency queens.

Why It Works

A queenless split without eggs or young larvae cannot produce a new queen and will dwindle and die within 4-6 weeks. Even when eggs are present, workers need larvae younger than 3 days old to successfully rear a quality queen. Confirming queen status at split time prevents the most common cause of split failure.

Steps

1. Find the queen in the parent colony before splitting -- mark her with a queen marking pen if she is unmarked
2. Place the queen in one split on her original frame along with 2-3 frames of capped brood
3. Give the queenless split frames containing eggs and larvae under 3 days old, or introduce a caged mated queen
4. If introducing a caged queen, leave the candy plug intact and check acceptance after 3-5 days

Tips

• If you cannot find the queen, look for fresh eggs standing upright in cells -- she was on that frame within the past 24 hours
• A purchased mated queen ($25-45) eliminates the 3-4 week broodless period of a walk-away split
• Check queenless splits at day 7 for queen cells and at day 28 for new eggs from a mated virgin