Hi everyone and welcome to this new video on Native Australian stingless bees
The other day, my colleagues were splitting two colonies, and I could not resist the opportunity to make a short video. So here we go.
Ok Naila, I am ready for the split.
Ready?
Just put it [the top box] on the side over here.
Yay.
Cool, so it's splitted.
So this is the young brood this is the old brood. We have a lot of pollen and honey around.
It's huge brood it is very spread and beautiful.
Here there is one [queen cell], so we can give this one to the top.
So now, the one [the hive] that you are wanting is this one?
Oh no this one, I would prefer if you keep that one if you don't mind.
Ok, so we need to lock this.
So around here, like this area here, that would be a honey cell?
All of them are kind of the same shape, the pollen and the honey.
So they actually store the pollen around the outside?
No you can find the pollen on top.
In my colony that I splitted the other day there are three layers and the top layer is only honey and pollen
because you have a separation and the brood was underneath there, and it was full of pollen there and then honey.
[Should we hurry because it is too hot?] No no it's not too hot it's just that it is good that it is warm.
And also you don't want to loose too many bees, you don't want to loose all the foragers,
because they are going back there [to the bottom box].
The other one that we are going to split now as well, do you want to do that there or do you want to do that here?
Oh, over there.
These are... These are much more aggressive.
Oh yes they are really speed.
So that's the honey over there, right? and that's the pollen? Yes.
And that's the brood? yes. How do you recognise queen cells? They are bigger and they are on the side.
This, do you see that this is the old brood and this is... young brood is down there, there is a space. So this is actually very good because...
we need to check but there are queen cells here and then we can do the same thing [as for the other hive], we don't have to take the...
What about drone cells, can you recognise them? Drone celles they are the same size.
Here the brood does not seem as healthy, there is a lot of holes...
Shaun it's perfect we don't need to do anything we can give this old brood to this one
and these have a lot of queen cells.
So this one will go on top, so I tried to put some propolis like this
this way they won't collapse
because that's a risk.
But there are so many bees that straight away they will start to...
build little bridges.
Ok so I can just put this on top. Yep.
That helix...
So we thought we could bring this one, relocate it far far away,
maybe near your apiary or like at the bottom of this apiary.
I think it's fine, as long as they are stable.
Yes they will seal it so quickly
especially at this time of the year.