applebwoi
06-03-2007, 07:08 PM
I overwintered my single hive in a single deep and they have exploded. I got rid of the deep and now they are occupying 8 mediums. The top supers are filled except for the last one I put on that had Bee-O-Pac frames that I wanted to try for comb production. They haven't touched those but they've only been on about a week. My question is how often do I need to do a thorough inspection, all the way down to the brood nest? They are doing so well that I don't want to bother them too much, but I also don't want them to swarm if I can help it. I purchased three nucs this spring and captured one swarm and they are growing fine and I keep adding foundation for them but this big one is the one I need to know about. My last thorough inspection was April 28 at which time I added a medium box with HSC to the bottom of the stack. I welcome any advice.
paulnewbee1
06-03-2007, 07:42 PM
I would just take the supers off and leave them alone sound like they are doing great I wish mine was that good. Im new at this but sounds like they are fine.
Paul
George Fergusson
06-03-2007, 08:23 PM
My question is how often do I need to do a thorough inspection, all the way down to the brood nest?
Once a year, other times only as necessary to investigate or correct a problem and then, only as thorough as required. A fall inspection might be in order, depending.
Wondering if you've got a queen? Check for eggs and stop looking when you find them. Worried about swarming? Tilt the boxes up on edge and check the bottoms of the frames. You can learn a lot about what's going on inside your hive by watching what's going on outside the hive and listening to the sound. Often a quick peek, sniff, and listen under the cover is all it takes to decide everything is "OK", or not. The more you bother your bees, the less they're going to like it and the more their honey production is going to suffer. For the most part, my bees don't need me. When they do need me I try to be there for them. Otherwise, I try to bother them as little as possible.
It's pretty much a given that new beekeepers will bother their bees more than they should. Personally, I open my hives whenever I want to know what's going on inside. Well into my 3rd year now, I find I'm a lot less interested in what's "going on inside" than when I started out. If things "seem" ok, I figure they probably are. I did a quick mini-inspection of some of my hives this weekend- I examined some drone brood in burr comb between the boxes for mites and tilted up the boxes on my stronger hives to check for swarm cells. I didn't pull any frames. I didn't find any swarms cells. Don't know what I'd have done if I'd found some :)
I'm definitely turning into a "hands-off" beekeeper as best I can :)