Hello, I'm pretty new to this whole beekeeping thing. I got my first hive in April this year. The girls have already filled up 2 deeps with pollen, honey and brood, and I just put my first super on with a queen excluder. They seem to be doing swimmingly!

I have one question that I've scoured through the books I have, and online, and just can't find the answer to. How often do I need to actually take the top deep off and check the frames in the bottom box? I haven't done this process yet, because I don't want to do something I'm unsure of. When I check my hive, I just open the top box, scrape off the burr comb from the bottom of the top box's frames and put it all back together. Do I need to take the top box completely off every time and clean out the bottom box?

Thanks in advance for any and all input!

Melody