This section is from the book "How To Keep Bees And Sell Honey", by Walter T. Kelley. Also available from Amazon: How To Keep Bees And Sell Honey.
The colonies about to be divided should have two or more hive bodies in the brood nest and should be strong in bees and brood having not less than 10 frames of brood and preferably more. The weather should be warm so the brood will not be chilled during the operation.
Set the top hive body off, removing some of the middle frames from the lower brood body and looking for the queen. Place two or more combs, solid with pollen and honey on each outside and next to them place as many empty dark brood combs as available and place the queen therein. Fill the remainder with sealed brood about to hatch, taken from either the lower or the upper hive body.
In the upper hive body, which is still on the ground, place two or more heavy combs of honey and pollen on each outside and set in the remainder of the frames with the unsealed brood and eggs to the center, being sure that you have two or more frames of sealed brood next to the unsealed brood.
During the entire process, keep in mind that you need approximately the same amount of bees in each hive body and so you will need to shake two-thirds of the bees into the upper hive body because most of the field will return to the lower entrance. Be sure not to shake the queen off her frame or into the upper hive body. Also keep in mind that the bees in each body must have a reserve of honey and pollen for the rainy and cold days.
If the colony should be boiling over with bees and about to swarm with a honey flow already on or about to start, it may be desirable to add a hive body of drawn combs if available or even comb foundation to the lower hive but do not add room unless it is actually needed. Over this body place the double screen with the opening to the top and back and then place the other hive body on top of the screen. Next place a queen in her introducing cage down between two frames of brood being sure that the candy end is open so that the bees can release her promptly.
A double division screen consists of a wooden frame with a screen on each side through which no bees can pass. An entrance is cut on the upper side so that the bees above the screen can get out. The entrance of the division screen is normally placed to the rear of the hive.
Most of the field bees in the upper body will return to the lower hive by way of the front entrance within 24 hours but the nurse bees will remain and the sealed brood will start to hatch. The heat from the lower body will rise up to maintain the colony heat above.
The idea in putting all of the empty brood combs and most of the older sealed brood in the lower hive body with the queen is to provide the old queen with as much laying space as possible and thereby doing away with a crowded condition that leads to swarming. Once a week the empty brood combs from the upper body from which the bees have hatched should be shaken free of bees and exchanged for combs of eggs and unsealed brood removed from the lower hive body.
In this top hive body you have only young bees that were never acquainted with the old queen and so they will, in practically all cases, accept the new queen and will not know of the presence of the old queen below due to this double screen division. This top colony will proceed to develop into a normal colony and if somewhat weaker it may be aided by bringing up frames of sealed brood from the lower body from which the bees have been shaken off; or if it gets too strong it may have to be supered or some of the frames of sealed brood moved down below and empty combs brought up.
Here is a queen in the act of laying an egg. It is no small job for her to back into 1, 000 or more cells a day and deposit an egg in each cell, so you need a young, active queen to keep the hive well populated.
Queen rearing is a specialized 7-day a week business that calls for considerable skill, tabulation, patience and knowledge. This frame holds three bars of queen cells of different ages, with the wax cells placed in wooden cups for convenience in handling.
An automatic grafting tool is used by queen breeders to transfer the young worker larva to the artificial queen cell. A light pressure on the thumb forces a flat spring under the larva so that it can be lifted out without injury.
In examining your combs for brood, disease or in locating the queen have your back to the sun if possible and hold the frame so as to let the light shine right down into the cells. Hold the frame securely but be sure not to squeeze a bee or you will get stung. Always keep the hive tool in your hand for prying and scraping.
When you are ready to do away with the old queen simply break down the colony, remove the double screen and put your hive back together in the same order as it was. The bees from the top colony will cluster where the hole was for some hours and then they will make their way around to the front entrance and enter without fighting. The young queen will soon kill the old queen when they meet and the job is completed.
 
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