Starting from a Split

If you already have a strong Primal Bee hive (or a strong Langstroth colony), splitting is a great way to start a second Primal Bee hive without purchasing new bees. The Primal Bee hive's thermal efficiency makes splits more forgiving — smaller populations can maintain brood temperature during early establishment better than in standard equipment.

When to Split

Your colony is ready to split when:

• The colony covers all 8 nest frames
• The queen is laying a strong, consistent brood pattern
• Drones are present (indicating mating season)
• Local nectar flows have begun
• Daytime temperatures are consistently above 60°F

Strong colonies often show swarm cells or queen cells — this is a signal the colony is biologically ready to reproduce. Splitting redirects that energy productively.

When NOT to split: Late season (less than 8 weeks before first frost), during a nectar dearth without reliable feeding, during disease outbreaks or heavy pest pressure, or when the colony covers fewer than 6 frames.

What You'll Need

• A second Primal Bee hive, fully assembled with foundation in all nest frames
• Dense sugar syrup for feeding (4 parts sugar to 1 part water)
• PPE, smoker, hive tool

Method 1: Walk-Away Split (No Purchased Queen)

This is the simplest method. You let the bees raise their own queen from existing eggs or young larvae.

Step 1: From your strong hive, select 2-3 nest frames that contain eggs or larvae no older than 1-3 days. Make sure there are plenty of nurse bees on these frames.

Step 2: Place these frames into your new Primal Bee nest box. Set up the follower board with the brood frames on one side (active nest) and empty frames with foundation on the other side (storage for growth).

Step 3: The nurse bees will realize they are queenless and begin raising a new queen from the eggs or young larvae. This process takes about 16 days from egg to emerged queen, plus another 1-2 weeks before she mates and starts laying.

Step 4: Feed immediately and continue feeding until the new colony is established and drawing comb.

Step 5: Make sure the new hive is placed at least 5-10 feet from the parent hive so foragers reorient to the new location rather than drifting back.

Important: The parent hive keeps its queen and will recover its population naturally. Only split from a colony that is strong enough to lose 2-3 frames of brood and bees without being weakened.

Method 2: Split with a Purchased Queen

If you don't want to wait for the bees to raise their own queen, you can introduce a purchased queen to the split.

Step 1: Move 2-3 frames of brood and nurse bees into your new Primal Bee hive (same as above).

Step 2: Introduce the new queen using the gradual release method — place her queen cage between frames with the candy plug accessible to the workers. Over 3-7 days, the bees will acclimate to her scent and chew through the candy to release her.

Step 3: Check after 5-7 days to confirm the queen has been released. If she hasn't, you can carefully release her directly.

This method gets the new colony laying sooner and eliminates the uncertainty of whether the bees will successfully raise a queen.

Configure the Nest

Start with 3 frames on the active side (the brood you transferred), follower board in the middle, 4 frames in storage on the other side. Once bees are using 75-100% of accessible frames and brood comb is building, move the follower board one frame at a time.

Post-Split Care

Feed both the new split and the parent hive. The parent hive lost population and brood — feeding helps it recover. The new split needs fuel to draw comb and establish itself.

Monitor the new split after 15 days for signs of a laying queen (fresh brood, eggs, pollen coming in at the entrance).

For detailed monitoring and ongoing management guidance, see the Transferring from an Existing Hive guide in this section.