Walk Away Splits: Steps You Can Take for Stress-Free Queen Rearing
A walk away split is an ideal way to raise a few local queens. The traditional walk away split involves taking a few frames of bees and brood and putting them in an empty brood box and walking away. You come back a month later to see how successful you were. Walk Away Splits Plus builds on the traditional method and makes it better. The plus represents lessons learned from more than 50 years of raising new colonies. Topics that will be addressed include graft free local queen rearing, preparation for the split, how to do the split and care and feeding.
In his 50th year as a beekeeper, Morris Ostrofsky, a retired biology instructor, says he learns something new everyday about bees and beekeeping. Since 2010 Morris has participated in the development and implementation of the Oregon Master Beekeeper program. He is both a mentor and an instructor for the program. Morris is also an active member and past President of the Lane County Beekeepers Association. In October 2013 Morris was awarded the Washington state Master Beekeeper certification. He is the first Oregonian to receive this certification and is among only a few who currently hold this title. Morris is an occasional contributor to Bee Culture magazine. His most recent articles include “Overcoming Barriers to Beekeeping: How to Continue Doing What You Love” and “Swarms are Coming: Are Your Bait Boxes Ready?” Morris’ passion for teaching and beekeeping becomes apparent when he shares his knowledge with others. His presentation technique is to both educate and entertain. An interest in genetics and queen rearing has led to a quest to breed locally adapted, queens using graft-free methods. He is planning to compare several graft-free techniques this spring.