Splitting hive at night

[BlazingBees]

I was thinking of trying a split at night to see if I can keep more foragers in the split colony. I've done a few night time inspections with a red light and the bees seem much calmer than daytime inspections so I thought it might work. Anyone ever tried or have any thoughts on night splitting.

[Dirt Rooster]

Done plenty.  Still got to close them up for two days or move them after.  Tape up you pants legs.

[BlazingBees]

Split worked great I set them up on a buddy's farm we didnt tape our pants but only sting I got was on my belly he took 2  on the arm almost ontop of each other. I'm still amazed the bees cant see the red light if it wasnt for.all the agressive crawling around they do I think I'd always do night beekeeping

[Dirt Rooster]

We do a lot of night work due to time constraints but it is more pleasant not to have the sun beating on you.  The bees can be a bit more aggressive at night though.

[BlazingBees]

The split wont make a new queen we gave it eggs and just hatched brood 3 times now they just refuse to build a queen cell I have a couple on a plastic foundation frame that should.be capped today or tomorrow in another hive but I have no idea how to remove a queen cell from plastic foundation without killing it I was debating on heating a knife with a torch to cut through the foundation it's either that or give them eggs again or I could order a queen one of those mite mauler or ankle biter queens would a nice addition

[BlazingBees]

Caught 2 virgins right after they hatched while they were hunting down other queen cells stuck one in the hive that wouldn't make a queen and put the other in a cage to see if any others would hatch but apparently the 2 that hatched first must've killed them all because every other cell had a hole in the side so I released the caged one back into the box so now I just have to wait for them to get mated I need to make another split though because I already ordered a replacement

[Rojodiablo]

That's weird that the hive basically refuses to make queen cells. I have no idea what causes that, but are they otherwise happy ad able to work normally?

[BlazingBees]

Yeah I gave them a frame with eggs a few times and they wouldn't make a queen just business as usual like they had a queen but when I gave them the virgin they started tending her right away and I saw her practice flying a couple days later once the weather clears up I'll check for eggs to see if she ended up getting  mated

[HayHay]

Sounds like a good idea, I'll have to try it sometime.