Outside The Hive Inspections

Some good options I have found in preparing for a hive inspection or if I feel I need to get out to the apiary but the weather isn't cooperating - too hot especially - It is remarkable how much data can be collected from outside the hive:

Use your phone to video the coming and going of each hive for at least one full minute.

• Take a photo of that hive if you have many hives. It will help you recall how many and what size supers you need to prepare frames for.
• If you use BroodMinder - highly recommended - take a temperature reading of the brood box.
• Back at your desk go through each video reminding yourself of the hive history, dates of importance - like swarm date, swarm capture date, install date, last inspection date, what is or about to bloom.
• Record time of day and the weather. A snapshot at the same time on different days or different times on the same day is smart.
• Is pollen coming in? Strong indicator of a laying queen.
• Is there fanning for ventilation - bee butts down - or fanning for incoming foragers - bee butts up? Sometimes it is hard to tell but when I have just moved a bait hive into place or hived a swarm, it is reassuring to see the nasanov signal in good use.
• Are drones present? Drones return to eat quite frequently from close by DCAs. Sometimes it is a strong indicator of swarm preparations.
• Count approximately how many bees enter the hive in that one minute and how many bees are on the landing board along with any interesting behaviors.

 

Having several colonies helps tremendously with this exercise. If you know, for instance, the traffic of a colony that has swarmed and see another colony in your apiary with similar traffic while all others are bustling to a different tune, it could indicate a swarm event happened for that hive without your awareness. By reviewing each colony on its own merit as well as in comparison to others helps me come up with a plan to target the hives that need my attention the most.

 

 

Do the math on swarm event colonies:

• I presume a virgin queen exist on the swarm date in the parent hive and count how long it will be before expecting capped brood. I wait until she's had time to mate, lay, and have capped brood before an inspection. That's about 16 - 18 days. 5 to get her legs under her, 2-3 days to mate, 9 to the first capped brood. Leaving the bees to settle in after a swarm departs avoids unnecessary interference. Doing the math can also relieve you of concerns that you've gone in too soon to see evidence she successfully returned from mating. You should still have time to buy and install a queen if needed. In the meantime colonies without brood have little more to do than store honey. 
• If I caught the swarm, I presume the mother Queen is on the job from that date, laying new brood. The population of that colony will not increase until the first hatch or in 21 plus days. I give them time to settle in. Pollen coming in tells the tale but keep an eye on that population if it does not rebound. Adding brood & bees from another colony may help.
• One last thing I can do is slip in a sticky board below the screened bottom board to see if cappings wax appears and where as an indicator that new brood is hatching. I have a routine of slipping this board in for a 24 hour period before the day of inspection.

Depending on how many colonies you have this data can form a respectable view of their status and fill several pages in your notebook. I find it empowering to help me put a good plan in place before I go in on a good weather day and rock their world.