Apimaye Queen Defender method:
1. remove dividers, create one 10 frame brood chamber, close entrances.
2. Take 16 halves, 8 connectors, make 8 long frames. For strength, tie the 3 pieces with a zip tie.
3. 8 frames go in 1-4 and 7-10 slots, 2 open slots in the center. No Foundation needed.
4. Take two brood frames with queen from a strong hive, place them in 5 and 6 of the Defender, or use ten joined frames, installing a standard package + queen.
5. Fill all four feeders with 1:1 syrup.
6. next AM, open all four round entrances for the future 4 chambers. the landing board type entrances are too close for my comfort, and future returning queens could enter the wrong colony.
7. In 3 or more days, (it’s good to leave the colony to build to a good population, up to several weeks) inspect for new eggs. If there are new eggs in new comb in at least 4 half frames, remove the queen and her 2 original frames, separate all the frames, add the dividers assuring the discs are all in the closed position, and distribute the egg frames evenly among the four chambers. The 2 center frames and queen can be placed in their own nuc.
8. In 4-5 days after removal of the queen, check for new queen cells. Distribute them evenly between all 4 chambers.
9. 30 days from the split, check for newly mated laying queens and eggs in each chamber. As each queen “proves” her fertility, remove her to a new split. The workers will again produce a new queen from left back eggs.
10. Repeat from 9.
