How often to visit new hive

[digdan]

So I hived my bees on Memorial day. I'm very anxious to check on them, but I've been told that smoking bees sets them back a couple days.

I hived a very robust colony of 3 banded Italians and a strong hive of cardovian Italians. The hive site is about 1 hour from my house, so I can't just make a hop skip jump to check on them.

What is a good schedule to check on bees? How fast will they grow from their 4 frames to outgrow the 10, for me to add a Food Deep. How fast can problems become irreversible? How fast can they go through a 1/2 gallon of syrup during the start of honey flow?

Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Love for you and your bees,
DigDan

[Ravenseye]

They can go through a half gallon of syrup pretty quick. If you're new at this, go ahead and check on them once a week. Smoke lightly but smoke enough to take you time and learn how things are going inside the hive. As time goes on, you'll need to check less and less. Actually, you'll need to do less when you're checking. I like to average about every ten days or so. More if I have a problem hive. I can't say how fast they'll fill out the frames but if you check this weekend you'll have a pretty good idea of their progress. How fast problems become irreversible? That depends (with bees, the phrase "that depends" is quite often used) on the problem itself. The key is to identify the problem early. Read a lot, watch the hive, spend time here, find a mentor. All good stuff to do as you learn.

[Wunderdawg]

I will not open my hive today, I will not open my hive today, I will not open my hive today, I will not...............Who am I kidding.......Yeah I probably will. I have the same curiosity problem. My problem is they are 100 yards from my house. I am tempted every day.

[indypartridge]

What is a good schedule to check on bees?...
I agree with Ravenseye, once every 7-to-10 days is good for a beginner. You're not likely to encounter any 'irreversible' problems checking on them this often. This is your 'learning hive' so don't worry about 'setting them back'. They'll be okay. As for going thru syrup... if there's not much blooming they can go thru it fast - a quart a day or more once the population starts building.


I will not open my hive today, I will not open my hive today, I will not open my hive today, I will not...............Who am I kidding.......Yeah I probably will. I have the same curiosity problem. My problem is they are 100 yards from my house. I am tempted every day.
Put a stool or bench by your hive. You can learn a lot just by sitting and watching.

[alpha6]

As far as I know smoking won't set your bees back. Just do go crazy with the smoker.