Indiana-inspections???

[deermaster]

I have two hives that seem to have made it over the winter. I removed the entrance reducer and found a bunch of bees dead on the screened bottom board. Not many on the outside of the hive.......I can hear the bees in both hives and have seen them flying on nice days. I want to take the cover off and look inside but I am not sure when I can do this.......Would it be ok to take a peak on a nice day? When should I go further and inspect the hive by removing frames? Both hives were started last spring and went into the winter with great stores. Should I start feeding soon???? The bees are located in Southern Indiana. This is my first time to overwinter bees and am not sure how to proceed in late winter early spring.

[bigbore]

I believe temp is the key, if the temp is 50 F and there is no wind, you can open the top to peek inside. I wouldn't go deeper unless daytime hives are 60 and night time is 40 or better. if you go deeper you will disturb the cluster, and if it is too cold the cluster won't be able to reform.

[greenbeekeeping]

Don't be afraid to take a peak. I have feed on my bees that were overwintered here and started feeding them a few weeks ago.

[Ravenseye]

Oh just go ahead an peek. Just peek...as in a quick look. No pulling frames, etc. When bees are flying pretty good, as in lots of bees coming and going, you can feel more confident about pulling frames and getting a feel for the way things are inside the hive. As said above, temps are usually 50 or above, little wind, etc. I've "peeked" when temps were well below freezing.

[mike haney]

more important is to find a way to assess the level of stores remaining, either by looking, "hefting", or weighing. this is the time of year that hives die of starvation. "buzzing", "humming" or flying bees will not tell you that they are going to starve in the next few days. good luck,mike

[indypartridge]

more important is to find a way to assess the level of stores remaining, either by looking, "hefting", or weighing. this is the time of year that hives die of starvation.
Ditto. Stand behind the hives and lift (tilt) it an inch or two. If it's light, then now's the time to feed. A week or so ago when we had higher temps and they were flying, I put top feeders and baggie feeders on mine.

What are you doing March 14th? The Indiana State Beekeepers are meeting in Columbus. There will be a couple sessions on spring management for beginning beekeepers. Details here:
http://hoosierbuzz.freeforums.org/2009-isba-spring-meeting-t77.html

[IndianaHoney]

Deermaster,

Generally in Indiana, we don't get a chance at a full inspection until beginning to middle of April. Sometimes March will give us one or two oppertunities. As others have said, you can take a peek right now, but don't open them up for more than a few seconds. They should be raising brood right now, and it could chill the brood if you leave them open to long. Right now the only thing you really need to do is a lift test to see if they have stores, and rap on the hive a couple times with your ear against the entrance to see if you hear them. If you don't hear a buzz, take off the cover to see if they are alive. Then rap again. If you still don't hear anything, wait until the next day that hits 50 degrees and go pick up the dead hive.