Re: ideas/suggestions for hive inspections during the "mean" and lean season?
Unless you have a definable reason to intervene, stay out of the hive.
The entrance porch tells you:
how crowded the hive is,
if ventilation is appropriate,
if the bees are curing honey or consuming stores,
what pollen and how much is being collected.
You see DWV and dead bees, stonebrood, chalkbrood, and dead pink eye larvae,
you see Drones freely entering or being ejected,
you see robbing attempts.
The odor of some of the distinctive fall nectars tells you where in the yearly calendar you are, or more generally if nectar is being cured, or is all capped.
You may catch the mass orientation flights -- this tells you that cohort brood is hatching.
Make it a practice to take the "pulse" --- count landing bees over 15 secs, record it in your notebook. The pulse is a good tell-tale of hive vigor.
One hive in four can be supplied with a screen bottom and sliding insert. Pull out the insert and inspect.
You will see which frames are hatching brood -- look for yellow/straw shredded cappings, and the antenna casts of the pupation.
You can see which frame has the queen and is laying eggs -- look for the occassional dropped egg.
You can see how much the dearth is consuming stores, look for shredded wax cappings and similar frass.
You will see pollen, location and color.
And of course, you will see mites. You will see indication of chalk and stonebrood.
My region doesn't have SHB, and moth is only a problem on dead outs. If these pests are present, your approach may vary.
