early spring splits

[Bob Wilson]

How early in each beek's spring can nuc splits be made.
1. I suppose "as soon as I see drones" is the obvious answer. Is that true even though the drones are only from that one hive and it is early in the spring? Is that similar to inbreeding one hive, when other hives do not have drones and the maples have not begun flowering yet?
2. I also suppose it is better to make a split 3-4 weeks before the main flow starts?

[BeeMaster2]

Bob,
Usually when your hive has drones, the hives in the surrounding area have drones.  Another factor is food. You need a good nectar flow or you are able to feed them sugar water plus pollen. You need a good food source for brood development. 
Jim Altmiller

[Bob Wilson]

Hmm. Maybe I just need to equalize, and use the population of the bigger hive to bolster up the smaller hives.
Then pull off a few frames for nucs in April, when they can bounce back quickly.

[Bob Wilson]

When you take a frame of sealed brood from one hive and insert it into another hive, do you shake off all the attached bees?
Would the nurse bees, and whatever foragers present on the frame, attack the unfamiliar queen in the new hive?

[cao]

When I move a frame of brood from on hive to another, I give it a little shake to get the foragers flying.  The severity of the shake depends on how many nurse bees I want to add to the new hive.  The lighter the shake, the more nurse bees. 

Just make sure you know where the queen is before you start swapping frames.

[Brian MCquilkin]

Just make sure you know where the queen is before you start swapping frames.

That's Good advice: It can be a royal pain if you move the queen over without realizing it. oops done a few times.

[Oldbeavo]

To make a split or take brood we always find the queen.
If you make a split and let them form their own queen, you can have drone brood that has dark purple eyes and the timing will mean drones will be around by the time the new queen needs to mate.
Like Jim says there may also be drones from other hives around as well

Bob, balancing up your hives will help as they go into spring. We don't shake the bees off but dust the hive with icing sugar once the new bees are added. If we are concerned we shake some icing sugar at the entrance.
By the time all the bees lick the icing sugar off each other, the smell of the icing sugar no one knows who is the new bee or resident of the hive.

[Bob Wilson]

Thanks, beeks. Sometimes I look for the answer to a specific question online, but cannot find it. I can always get good, experienced, straightforward answers here.