Two-Queen Colony Management

A strong colony is first divided temporarily into two colony units for the purpose of introducing the second queen. The old queen is confined to the lower brood chamber with an excluder. This chamber should contain reserve honey and pollen, half the brood (mostly eggs and larvae), and approximately 40 percent of the population. Two supers of drawn comb are added above the excluder. The inner cover, with the escape hole screened, is placed above these supers and the the upper brood nest placed on top. The upper brood chamber should contain approximately 60 percent of the original population. Some of the bees will drift back to the lower entrance, but this division tends to give a fairly equal balance to the two colony units. The more mature brood is used in the upper unit, because fewer bees will be required to protect this brood, and the division will be strengthened by emerging bees. A 1-inch auger hole just below the front handhold provides an entrance for the upper colony.