To use the Brood Division and Uniting Board, make sure you take the pollen trap out entirely. The instructions for that are given here.
The board has 2 functions, to divide the colony, or to unite two colonies – hence the name. There are 3 slots on the board, each with a circular gate. These gates can be positioned in 3 ways to:
Completely shut the holes to prevent any bee or pheromone exchange
Enable pheromone exchange but no bee passage through the small slots
Enable bee exchange through the big slots
When dividing a colony, or just introducing 2 small colonies separately to a single hive, put the division board with its gates shut in the dedicated centre slot. Introduce the two colonies on each side. Please note that you can have up to 4 frames on each side and cannot use the frame spacers when using the division board.
When uniting two colonies, first make sure one of the colonies does not have a Queen. Then have the rotating gates adjusted to have smaller slots open for pheromone exchange until the colony without the Queen gets used to the pheromones of the Queen of the other colony. Then you can adjust the gates to enable the bees pass through.
With the division board, you can also easily split a hive, or unite two weak colonies.
