First inspection of the year.

[Jaxxmac]

A gorgeous day here in Cornwall, bees active so thought I'd check the hive. This winter I left a super half filled with honey on. (I don't normally but it was a warm autumn and the bees had filled it after I extracted and I didn't have the heart to take it away) Opened the hive with difficulty and found a full super teeming with bees and an almost empty brood box with a queen busy laying. Had a go at marking her (first attempt). Think I'll need to split soon. Not sure about a 2nd hive in the garden, anyone want some bees?!

 

[Boston Bees]

Gosh. So early.....

If nothing else, squish the queen while marking her at this time of year and you have no way whatsoever of saving the hive.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

A gorgeous day here in Cornwall, bees active so thought I'd check the hive.

EH!

Had a go at marking her

What!

Think I'll need to split soon

How on earth do you work that out? you've just said there's hardly any brood there, it's still winter for crying out loud.

 

[Erichalfbee]

A gorgeous day here in Cornwall, bees active so thought I'd check the hive. This winter I left a super half filled with honey on. (I don't normally but it was a warm autumn and the bees had filled it after I extracted and I didn't have the heart to take it away) Opened the hive with difficulty and found a full super teeming with bees and an almost empty brood box with a queen busy laying. Had a go at marking her (first attempt). Think I'll need to split soon. Not sure about a 2nd hive in the garden, anyone want some bees?!

Do you have drones being made?
How many frames of brood?
How much do you know about how bees work and have you heard of crossover.?

 

[The Poot]

A full super in March. How much did you feed?

 

[pargyle]

A gorgeous day here in Cornwall, bees active so thought I'd check the hive. This winter I left a super half filled with honey on. (I don't normally but it was a warm autumn and the bees had filled it after I extracted and I didn't have the heart to take it away) Opened the hive with difficulty and found a full super teeming with bees and an almost empty brood box with a queen busy laying. Had a go at marking her (first attempt). Think I'll need to split soon. Not sure about a 2nd hive in the garden, anyone want some bees?!

I should not worry too much about a second hive - opening them up at this point in the year (for no obvious reason as far as I can tell) has probably set them back a couple of weeks just repairing the damage you have done to their winterised home..... It's a real beginners error ... the old adage that you should not open the hive until you can do it in shorts and a T-shirt has served most beekeepers very well.

It's the beginners section so I hope we are not being too harsh but ... even in the glorious Duchy of Cornwall you are not out of the woods of winter yet ....

 

[Jaxxmac]

I should not worry too much about a second hive - opening them up at this point in the year (for no obvious reason as far as I can tell) has probably set them back a couple of weeks just repairing the damage you have done to their winterised home..... It's a real beginners error ... the old adage that you should not open the hive until you can do it in shorts and a T-shirt has served most beekeepers very well.

It's the beginners section so I hope we are not being too harsh but ... even in the glorious Duchy of Cornwall you are not out of the woods of winter yet ....

Eeep! Sheltered garden, full sun so felt warm enough.

 

[Jaxxmac]

A full super in March. How much did you feed?

Didn't.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I reckon that super was full of bees and brood - not honey

 

[enrico]

No one is telling you off jaxxmac.most of us have been there but you can do more harm than good at this time of the year. Playing with the queen is a definite no no. If you harm her that could be the end of a decent hive for the rest of the year! No spare queens sound for a long time! Work on the premise of. Why am I going in? Do I need to go in? If I do then I will do the job I am going in for and close up as soon as I can. To be honest there is no reason I can think of to go in at this time of the year because there is nothing I could do even if I found what I was looking for. The ONLY thing you need to be aware of is food.are you sure they had hey had some. If they are in the top box only then that suggests they are getting short of food. Good luck and be patient!

 

[pargyle]

Eeep! Sheltered garden, full sun so felt warm enough.

You gotta learn to sit on your hands .... We all know how desperately tempting it is to get in and have a look but unless you think they are desperately in need of feeding there is nothing to be gained and nothing you really need to know ... apart from emergency feeding or the bees are all dead there is nothing you can do about anything now. Get yourself some clear polycarbonate crown boards ... satisfies the curiosity urge without disturbing the bees.

 

[user 819]

If the BB is not laid up with 75/80% brood then splitting is a long way off, if there is brood in the super how many frames are completely laid up ?
The super is the warmest place so this is where the action will be for now, as ambient temps warm up the Q will eventually go down to lay. Be ware of false dawns at this time of year it is way too early to fiddle even in jetstream country.

 

[Cole lynch]

Come back Jax, come back!
Most of us have blundered in our first year.
don’t feel too scolded.
just put some fondant on over the crown board hole.
Wait until spring proper, as said “shorts n T-shirt weather is what you’re waiting for
You’ll need 2 hives minimum to be sustainable.
good luck

 

[Jaxxmac]

I reckon that super was full of bees and brood - not honey
[/QUO

I reckon that super was full of bees and brood - not honey

I'm 99.9% sure it wasn't brood. White wax, some crystals and drips

 

[Jaxxmac]

Come back Jax, come back!
Most of us have blundered in our first year.
don’t feel too scolded.
just put some fondant on over the crown board hole.
Wait until spring proper, as said “shorts n T-shirt weather is what you’re waiting for
You’ll need 2 hives minimum to be sustainable.
good luck

Thank you. I feel foolish but will leave this here as guidance for others in the hope it helps!

 

[enrico]

Thank you. I feel foolish but will leave this here as guidance for others in the hope it helps!

don't feel foolish. If you want to see what a foolish person looks like when they start keeping bees go the Blog page. Find my Avatar under authors and have a read. You may pick up a few hints there too!

 

[Erichalfbee]

Thank you. I feel foolish but will leave this here as guidance for others in the hope it helps!

Please don’t feel foolish. We have all made mistakes. The hardest thing when you’re a beginner is to sit on your hands especially as we’ve been bee-less since the autumn.

 

[drex]

I still remember that desire to get in a hive towards winters end. I think all new comers do it. For the sake of others, I will just say that my first inspection, which will probably be several weeks away, is a quick in- is there brood,is there food? - and out. Certainly no queen marking

 

[pargyle]

Thank you. I feel foolish but will leave this here as guidance for others in the hope it helps!

No No No, nothing to feel foolish about .... it's just a learning curve and the first year is nearly as bad as the second year ... you did what you thought was right, at the time, beekeeping is like that FOREVER .... anyone who tells you they get it perfectly right, every year, every time ... they are telling porkies or living the dream !

We all have horror stories about what we have either deliberately or inadvertently inflicted on our bees and most of the time they get over it and fix the problems created by the beekeeper .. it may cost them effort but it is rarely terminal. Your bees will forgive you .... I'm sure everyone on here understands because we've all had (and in my case still have) itchy fingers on the smoker and hive tool as soon as we see a glimmer of sunshine. It's easy to convince yourself that the season is upon us and thankfully for those of us South of Watford it comes a lot earlier than our fellow beekeepers in more Northern Latitudes.
Patience in beekeeping is one of the key attributes you need to learn - very often waiting a little longer will answer any questions you have and give the bees the chance to sort any problems themselves.

 

[user 819]

Pargyle has said it, it's part of the learning curve where one never stops learning other wise we would all be perfick.