By: Darryl Gabritsch
Part 1 of this article was originally published in the December 2021 issue. If you missed it or would like a refresher, scan the QR code to the left or go to
https://www.beeculture.com/how-to-inspect-a-hive/
Inspecting a hive is only one part of colony management. If you see an issue while inspecting a hive there are various management techniques to do depending on what you see. This article will be three parts. Part 1 covers the concepts behind a hive inspection. Part 2 covers pre-inspection procedures. Part 3 covers the actual hive inspection procedures.
How often and when you inspect a hive totally depends on your lifestyle, beekeeping experience, what your philosophy is and what the purpose of the inspection is. All inspections should be systematic and have a specific purpose. Why are you opening a hive? Are you simply lifting the hive body to check under the frames for swarm cells (cold months)? Are you opening the hive to remove frames to do a detailed inspection (warm months)? Are you opening the top to simply look at the cluster location and strength, or simply checking a hive top feeder?
Most of us are just hobby beekeepers and have work and home life to balance along with beekeeping. Ask yourself: How much time can I dedicate to beekeeping? What skill level are you at? Are you a beginner, a Master Craftsman Beekeeper, hobby beekeeper, sideliner beekeeper or commercial beekeeper? How much time do you have to manage the colonies? Do you mind if the honey bees swarm? Do you simply want to help the honey bee? What is the purpose of the inspection?
There are many ways to inspect a hive, this is how I do it. Remember the adage: Ask 10 beekeepers how to do something and you will get 12 answers; all will be right.
Pre-inspection steps I do when I inspect a hive are as follows:
- Do all your preparations BEFORE opening the hive.
- Place a storage box in the apiary with items you might need to manage colonies. I have the following in my box:
a. Newspaper to combine colonies if needed.
b. Mineral oil to load Beetle Blaster traps to kill Small Hive Beetles.
c. Several empty Beetle Blaster traps.
d. Several one-inch ratchet straps to strap down hives in high winds.
e. Cordage to tie down items, or create loops to hook the straps into.
f. A bee brush.
g. Several entrance reducers in case of robbing.
h. One to two robbing and moving screens in case of robbing. I hold it in place with a strap if robbing occurs.
i. Painters tape to seal hive cracks if robbing occurs.
j. A black permanent Sharpie marking pen to write on top of hive tops (This is my version of an apiary notebook instead of using a dedicated inspection sheet that I’ll likely forget to take to the apiary).
k. A one-handed queen marking cage and a marking pen; though I rarely mark queens unless a mentee wants to learn how to do it.
l. A frame spacer if I’m using honey supers and putting one less frame in than the box calls for, so the bees will draw the comb out further.
m. Several full red bricks, half red bricks and sticks placed on the ground next each hive stand, or near the storage box. I use these as signals, as needed. - Place a complete, spare, empty hive with all component parts in the apiary in case you need it to make a split.
- Place a spare hive top on the hive stand (or ground if you don’t have long hive stands).
- Place an empty deep hive body on top of the hive top. I use this setup instead of a frame perch to keep debris out of the frames, and to isolate the queen frame if I find her while I continue to inspect the hive. I do occasionally use a frame perch though, if I want to photograph something with my cellphone camera.
- Place a small LED flashlight, J hook hive tool and L shaped hive tool within arm’s reach of the hive. I purchase inexpensive hive tools from Amazon and keep a hive tool on each hive to minimize spreading diseases. I alternate every other hive with either a J-Hook hive tool, or a traditional L-shape hive tool. I use the J-Hook hive tool to lift out frames and the L-shape tool to scrape propolis off the hive components.
- Place a small red brick, a half red brick and a short stick near the hive if they aren’t already there. The bricks are signal tools to let me know what is going on in the hive without me opening the hive. A full brick means I spotted either eggs or the queen. A half brick means I saw queen cells. A stick means I need to stick something in the hive (food, frame, mineral trap, etc.).
- Start your smoker BEFORE you don your equipment. I had a mentee burn his veil and suit when the smoker fire flamed up as he was adding fuel (long leaf pine straw). I store a bag full of long leaf pine straw in a storage shed, so I have dry fuel all the time.
- Put on a sweat headband to keep sweat out of your eyes.
- Put on reading glasses to help spot the eggs. I use inexpensive 1.5 power reading glasses from my local store. Put them on toward the middle of your nose, so you can see through them to spot the eggs, and still be able to look over top the frame if needed. TRUST ME, you will appreciate having reading glasses to help spot the eggs.
Summary. Learning how to inspect a hive is a crucial step in your beekeeping journey. Having a systematic inspection process will keep you focused on the steps needed to conduct a thorough, and eventually a quick, hive inspection. Knowing what to look for will help you determine what is normal and what requires further diagnosis and remedies. Beekeeping is both a science and an art. Beekeeping science is knowing the cause and effect of diseases and pests. Beekeeping art is balancing the various management techniques to keep healthy, strong colonies. Thank you for reading this if you stayed this long.
Darryl Gabritsch is a North Carolina Beekeepers Association Master Beekeeper and lives in NC with his family.
Hive Inspection Prep Box
Hive Inspection Prep
