Re: [OBA Discussions] Digest for oba-discussions@olympiabeekeepers.org - 3 updates in 2 topics

[Nicole Warren]

I was thinking that I’d love a presentation on snelgrove splits! I’ve never attempted them before and hadn’t heard of this approach until reading this. Charlie it sounds like you have a few years of experience with this split method, is that true? 

Also, I imagine that Jordan shared with you the best method if you can’t find the queen. For everyone else, here is my tip. If you can’t find her, add an empty box on top of the boxes you want her to be in and shake the frames one by one. I use a bee brush if I want to get every last bee, depending on how careful you want to be. That way, you know she’s in there. In most cases, think about how you can set things up so you have to shake the least amount of boxes. But it is a good method if you are starting out and finding the queen is holding you back! This method works great for splits and also for when you move frames to your top honey super(s) in June and place a queen excluder for example. That will allow the brood to hatch and force them to fill the available comb with honey next.

On Mon, Apr 20, 2026 at 11:44 PM <oba-dis...@olympiabeekeepers.org> wrote:

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• Snelgrove et. al. - 1 Update
• splits - change in plans, big learning - 2 Updates

Snelgrove et. al.

Charlie Garrott <charlie...@gmail.com>: Apr 20 07:49PM -0700 I called in a little help today - Jordan Bramwell came and worked my hives with me. He is offering bee services through his company.   We set up hive 1 as a Snelgrove split. It went textbook. Jordan found the queen right off. This is an orange marked queen that came with a Whatcom County nuc I bought from last year. I successfully split her hive twice last year.   We looked through the monster hive that I was concerned about. Seems like putting the third box and a super on the hive have calmed things down. There is no sign of a pending swarm. There was not much room for the queen to lay so we got some empty comb frames put in. There is a big flow going on now, probably maple. Jordan found the queen and we marked her.   Hive 4 remaining bees (non-laying) were dumped into hive 5. Not a lot of bees. I tore down hive 4 for the resources.   Hive 5 is according to Jordan, not weak, just small. Brood in upper level. We swapped top to bottom hoping she will work her way up.   Hive 2, 6, and 7 are strong with brood, food, comb, eggs.   No queen cells anywhere!   ​1,2,3 (right to left) (I got the slider boards off the screened bottom - lower sliders still in place)​   5,6,7 (right to left) (slider boards out, food frame stowed safely away)​   Now it's on to Snelgrove process for 1, apiary varroa control, weekly inspections, May feeding.....   I built a lot of things this go-around: screened bottom boards, hive stands, deep boxes, super boxes...   Got good at spreading wax on foundation.   Improved my painting skills.​   Charlie Garrott

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splits - change in plans, big learning

Charlie Garrott <charlie...@gmail.com>: Apr 19 06:41AM -0700 I attempted to set up for a Snelgrove split yesterday. I could not find the queen so we was unable to proceed. The hive is so built up with brood and bees that I will have to do a walk away split - probably split hive 3 ways.   I got some advice that I was making a critical mistake that contributes to inability to find queens. I have been inspecting the top box while it is sitting on the bottom box and then removing the top box to inspect the bottom box. I was told that this causes the bees to herd the queen to a safe area in the lower box. I should be removing and covering the top box first, inspect the bottom, and then inspect the top. This should prevent the queen from hiding so much.   Charlie

S. Monson <neveri...@gmail.com>: Apr 20 01:26PM -0700 I’m learning a lot from this email thread, thank you.   We should get a Signal chat going or something. Anyone interested? Steven   On Mon, Apr 20, 2026 at 08:32 Charlie Garrott <charlie...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Charlie Garrott]

I am not a Snelgrove split expert - this is my first attempt. I am following the lead of experienced beekeepers in Whatcom County.

I did the day 7 inspection today on day 9 - cool weather kept me out until today.

 

I found 9 queen cells for certain. Some other cells looked like larger drone cells, but I couldn't call them queen cells for sure.

 

7 frames had significant amounts of brood.

 

I am determining whether I should "cull" queen cells or let them develop.

See attached file for photos.

Charlie