An exceptionally effective swarm control board, originally invented by Yorkshireman Arthur Horsley.
Crafted with care from durable 12mm plywood and cedar, it features two stainless steel expanded mesh panels and an adjustable stainless steel entrance. The queen excluder is also made of steel for added durability.
To use, ensure you have a spare brood body ready, complete with frames and foundation or drawn comb. Conduct weekly inspections for signs of swarming, and mark the queen if spotted, as this will be helpful later on.
Day 1: When queen cells appear, disassemble the colony down to the floor and place the new brood body in the mother colony's position. Remove the middle two combs. Locate the queen and place her on a comb with unsealed brood, ensuring no queen cells are on this frame. Position this frame in the center of the new brood body.
Inspect the brood body of the mother colony and either select one large queen cell to raise a new colony or leave multiple cells if you plan to create several nuclei.
Rebuild the colony as follows: floor, new box with the old queen and flying bees, queen excluder, supers, Horsley Board (with the entrance closed and facing the opposite direction of the main entrance), crownboard, and roof.
Day 3 or 4: Open the entrance to the Horsley Board. This action stops the free passage of bees between the boxes and allows the flying bees to return to the parent colony.
At this stage, the colony has been artificially swarmed. If only one queen cell was left, you can leave the top box for a few weeks until the new queen is laying, before moving the colony away. If multiple cells were left in the top box, these should be split into nuclei during the week after capping.