How to Check a Beehive

So now your a beekeeper. You have your beehives set up, all your equipment, you've been reading books..you know all the lingo...now what? Now you need to check on your hives. This is really the easiest part of the beekeeping job. But it still is a little nerve racking until you get your feet wet. After your first year you will think nothing of it. Gather all the equipment needed for the day. Practice using your smoker before you set off. Make sure you inspect the hive on the outside for unwanted critters or other bees. Hornets and yellow jackets are notorious for stealing off honeybees...and you don't want to mess with them. If you do find them, just let the bees handle it. Trust me..they usually can take care of themselves.There are only certain times you really want to check your hives and that is early morning and right before dark. You want most of them in the hive so you can check on them and their behavior. ABSOLUTELY DO NOT check them at the hottest point of the day. It will not take them long to consider you an unwanted guest!

So first thing is first.. make sure the smoker is lit good and take your hive tool and begin to loosen the lid and the inner cover. At this point you want to puff some smoke into the hive and put the lid back down. Give it another good smoke and take the lid and inner cover off. Take the hive tool and loosen the ends of the frames. You will check at least a total of three. You will look for such things as: queen, laying pattern, brood, mites, what the workers are doing, evidence of pollen or capped honey,any evidence of disease. What time of year it is and the age of the hive will depend on what you will look for and what you may see. Once you have examined the frames, place them back into the hive gently.

You may want to smoke them again at this point as their "smoke high" will be wearing off. Replace the inner cover and the lid. You will want to place a brick on top of the hive to deter critters from getting into the top of your hive. Now move onto the next hive. When you are finished for the day you will want to write down your bee hives progress in your beekeepoing journal. This will make it easier to track the years progress and help you adapt for next year.*