Our concerns were with firstly the queens!!
As my daughter was down for the weekend to celebrate her Dad's birthday and was keen to see inside a hive. She decided to suit up and join me, we decided it was best to inspect just two of the hives and leave the rest to the following day.
I explained when inspecting a hive, that you must stand behind the hive and not in front so the foraging bees can continue working without obstruction. Next I proudly showed her how to use the smoker, giving the entrance of the hive a few puffs of smoke to let the bees know we were coming. Then you can take of the hive roof, placing it upside down on the floor near to you but without being in your way, then take off the crown board.
You need a hive tool for the next bit to help take of the honey supers as these are nearly always glued down by the bees with propolis, at this stage the bees were flying all around her and she stayed perfectly calm and in control. I was very impressed!
I pointed out the honey combs not yet capped to her and the lovely frames that were ready to harvest, she felt the weight of the frames with and without honey on them, giving her an idea of how much honey was on a frame (2-3lb).
As we got down to the brood box (were the queen lays her eggs) we had to be very careful at this point in case the queen was on any of the frames. A few puffs of smoke help send the bees down into the box. Using the hive tool again, prize the nearest frame out carefully, this is the trickiest bit! as there isn't much room to move things.
By loosening the first one gently on one side of the frame and then the other, lift it gently from the hive this frame usually just contains stores (honey), put this to one side. Now, I explained you have a little more room to gently free the next frame by sliding it towards you. and when you have inspected the frame, place it back in the hive where you took the first frame out. Inspect each frame in turn replacing it as close the previous one, this working gap moves along with you as you inspect the hive. A few puffs of smoke now and again if you need to quieten the bees down but avoid overuse of smoke.
Last time we inspected these hives they had virgin queens in them and by now they should have been out on a mating flight and started to lay eggs. I checked to see if I could see any eggs but I am afraid all I saw was pollen and honey, bad, bad news! this was the same scenario in both hives. There was nothing more to do other than replace the supers and put the hive back together and go break the news to Mel. He was of course concerned at the news but also delighted that Cathryn had assisted in her first inspection and enjoyed the experience, relaying how calm she had been and how fascinating it all was.
Hive Inspection
Apart from checking for eggs as we had done on this occasion, when inspecting hives you must also note many other things and keep accurate records of what you have seen.
- Is the queen present and is she laying
- Is there brood at all stages
- What is the behaviour of the bees like
- Is the colony developing as well as expected
- Does the queen have enough space to lay more eggs
- Is there sufficient space for the honey to be stored
- Do they have enough stored food to last until the next inspection
- Are there any queen cells
- Are there any signs of disease
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