The Split

I inspected Schampel TBH1 today. All is very well. 10 bars of brood and eggs. Good laying pattern. Drones present. Whatever was in before that I thought might be EFB is cleaned up and gone. I personally think it was partially rehydrated crystalized honey. I pulled out all the empty (and crooked) honey comb.

Look at how fat some of those combs are!

Also pulled out the 3 bars of honey on the other end since they were severely cross combed.

I took the 4 bars that were fused (due to the girls drawing their comb out between the bars rather than centered), put them in a nuc box and brought them home (with the queen). This leaves 6 full bars of brood and eggs in the hive. Can't decide if I should let them grow their own queen or order a new one  (A russian perhaps).

All in all they were very docile considering how invasive this visit was.

The nuc box had the comb that was centered between bars. I used strips of aluminum (printer plates) as straps to hold the comb centered under the bars after I cut it off and adjusted it. Saw the queen. Also saw many eggs and capped brood. Left the 4 bars of brood and eggs with an empty comb between them and 3 empty bars on the side. Also left some of the honey that I had removed from the Shampel TBH on the other side of the follower board (with a hole in it) for them to feed on if they need it.

Got the remaining honey comb crushed and straining right now.
Also melted down all of the wax (plus other wax that I'd been sitting on.) I put the wax in a pot of water and bring it to a boil. I then poor it through a paint filter into another large pot and let it cool. The wax floats to the top and hardens.