A Basic Hive Inspection
- 1. A Basic Hive InspectionLinda D. Tillmanwww.beekeeperlinda.com
- 2. How to Inspect a Bee HiveA step by step approach to inspecting your bee hive
- 3. Put on your protective clothing
- 4. Gather your equipmentA Hive Tool & SmokerVarious Helpful ItemsA hive tool, gloves, smoker, fuel, and a lighter are all the basicsFrame rack, frame grip, bee brush, cork to put in smoker, knife, container for all of this!
- 5. Then head for the beehives
- 6. First light the smoker fuel = pine strawEasy lighter = propane
- 7. How to light the smokerWe use pine straw for fuelWe use a propane lighter (for the grill) to light the smoker – reliable flame and the long nose on it makes it easy to get a flame into the depths of the smoker
- 9. More helpful smoker tipsAlthough not necessary, we use a paper towel impregnated with wax (from the solar wax melter) as a starterStart with a little fuel and add more as you need it
- 13. A puff of smoke at hive entry tells the bees that you are coming in
- 14. Take off the telescoping cover
- 15. Remove the inner cover
- 17. Lay the telescoping cover upside down on the groundStacking boxes catty-corner on top of the upturned top allows you easy access to picking up the boxes and protects the queen from falling onto the ground
- 18. A frame rack helps observationHangs on side of hiveEasy place to hang 1st frame out of the hive
- 19. Removing the framesThe first frame you take out of the hive box should NOT be the one closest to the side of the box – take out #2 or #9 (if it’s a 10 frame box), #2 or # 7 if eight frameWhy? Because when you put the hive back together, the last frame in will be the first frame out. You’ll be sliding the frame in between two frames (pushing bees against other bees) rather than squashing bees against the hard side of the box.
- 20. The #2 frame is being removed first
- 21. Taking out the next to the last frameThis should be thechoice no matterwhich side of the boxyou start with for theinspection.
- 22. The purpose of an inspection for the beginning beekeeperAs beginners our biggest job is to understand what a hive looks like when it is functioning. The more we study what goes on inside the hive box, the better position we are in to know if we need to do something to help the hive.
- 23. Are the bees are doing what they are supposed to?Building wax, raising young bees, bringing in nectar and pollen, capping honey
- 24. Are the bees building wax?Whether you use foundation, starter strips, or go foundationless, you want your bees to make wax at the beginning of the season.The wax serves the function of being home to brood that is raised, honey/nectar that is stored, and pollen that is packed away.
- 25. Wax buildingNew wax drawn – no foundation
- 26. Watch the bees build waxOn left bees festooningThey connect via wax from chest cells
- 27. Next we look at how the bees are using their wax combRaising brood – workers, drones and queensStoring pollen of all colorsStoring nectar and eventually capped honey
- 28. The queen lays brood constantlyHoles in the brood box wax filled with larvae mean that new bees have hatched and the queen has laid new eggs to take their placeSee the different stages of larvae in the cells?
- 29. Is there a good brood pattern?Worker brood is flat, light brown, and should be in a football shaped patternYou don’t want to see too many holes in the pattern, although if the holes are filled with new larvae, that’s not a problem
- 30. Can you see any eggs or young larvae?Young larvae are tiny, c-shaped, worm-likeLarvae lie in the bottom of the cells in a liquid foodEggs are in three center cells. The three cells below contain c-shaped larvae
- 31. Eggs look like tiny grains of rice
- 32. Look for worker and drone broodThe queen lays eggs all day long. She chooses at each empty cell to lay a fertilized or an unfertilized eggFertilized egg = worker beeUnfertilized egg = a droneThe drone’s only job is to be available to mate with queens from other hives
- 33. Drone cells are not flat. They are rounded & stand up on the wax
- 34. Queen cellsYou may see queen cells – they look like peanuts in the shell Bees often keep a few for insurance in case something happens to their queen or they want to swarm or supersede the current queenQueen cell in each of these photos
- 35. You’ll see pollen in the cells
- 36. You’ll see uncapped honey
- 37. You’ll see beautiful fully capped honey
- 38. Also in the inspection you’ll look at the bees themselvesLearn to distinguish workers, dronesLearn to find the queen
- 39. You’ll see bees: What do workers/drones look like?
- 40. The drone has huge eyes (to help him see the queen in flight)He is shaped like a cigar and does not have a stinger.
- 41. If you look hard, you may see the Queen
- 42. If you didn’t find her, she is circled below
- 43. Can you find her in this picture? (hint: she is marked)
- 44. This queen is harder to find
- 45. Did you find her?
- 46. In addition to learning about your hive, the inspection is also about trying to determine if there are any problems with the hiveAre there intruders: small hive beetles, roaches, wax moths?Is there disease or indication of weakness due to Varroa mitesDo the bees need more space to grow or to store honey?
- 47. The small hive beetleYou’ll have them in your hivesHere’s one withthe audacity to bebeside the Queen!)
- 48. When you see a small hive beetle…..Smash it, crush it, step on it!SMASH IT WITH YOUR HIVE TOOL !
- 49. Wax mothsWax moths in your hive mean the hive is weak. They wreak havoc quite quicklyOne solution is to combine the weak hive with a strong oneNote: These photos are from a dead hive
- 50. Varroa mitesYou can’t always see the Varroa mite but sometimes you do: This one is on the larvae – see the orange “tick” on the larvae body
- 51. The bee in the center has a red Varroa mite on her back
- 52. Deformed Wing VirusVectored by the Varroa mite, makes the bees ‘ wings deformed and useless as in picture – observe the stubby malformed wings
- 53. You will have the Varroa mite even if you never see it.Natural beekeepers use a powdered sugar shake as part of their inspection about once a month during bee season. The bees groom the powdered sugar off of their bodies, and groom the Varroa mite off of their bodies at the same time.
- 56. Do your bees need more space for brood or honey production?It often helps to have an empty hive box or super with you on an inspection.
- 57. When do you add a new hive box?If your bees have drawn out the wax on the foundation or frames in 8 out of 10 frames in a hive box, you’ll need to add another hive box filled with frames to allow the queen more room to lay eggsNew box is added to this hive
- 58. During honey flow, add supersBees can fill a honey super faster than you can imagine.When the bees have filled most of the frames in the top box with honey, have another frame-filled superready to add.
- 59. How often should one go into the hives?Not daily!! You are intruding into the bees home and it takes a little while for them to recover – so only about once every week or so during bee season
- 60. When is the inspection over?When you have accomplished what you opened the hive to doYou don’t have to open and disturb every boxMainly you want to know how your bees are doing and if you need to make any changes to promote the well-being of the hive
- 61. Put the hive back togetherPut the frames back in hive box in the same order and orientation as you found them.Some beekeepers mark the frames to help keep them in order
- 62. Slowly slide each box onto the one beneathThis allows the box to act as a bulldozer and gives the bees a chance to move rather than be squashed by the oncoming box.
- 63. Replace the inner cover and the telescoping coverTake any notes you may need for the next visit to that hive, gather up your equipment, put out the smoker, and you’re finished!
- 64. Congratulations!You’ve completed your hive inspection!
- 65. Photography creditsPhotographers: Julia MahoodLinda TillmanSam MaceyAll photos from www.beekeeperlinda.com