First inspection

[Rob55]

Some of you might have seen my previous post, where I took delivery of my first ever bees and hived them out of their nuc last weekend. Well today was the big day where I did my first ever inspection of my own bees in their new hive, and I was hoping to ask for advice on what I saw:

Firstly, during the inspection there were a lot of bees flying in the vicinity of the hive and around my suit. None of them landed on me or to the best of my knowledge tried to sting, but there were a lot in the air and some high pitched buzzing. Weather was sunny about 16c and no rain since yesterday, so ideal conditions surely for inspecting. Is this an indication I may have slightly bad tempered bees?

Secondly, the bees have been drawing wild comb below my standard 5 frames out of the nuc (I am on a 14x12 brood). So far this is ok but I am worried if they brace it together it would make lifting individual frames out difficult. Is there anything I should be doing here (e.g. placing a couple of bricks beneath the shallow frames) or just leave them to it?

Thirdly, there was loads of sealed brood in the middle frames which looked great. However in my haste I forgot to check for new eggs (silly beginner mistake) and I could not find my queen on any frames (she isn't marked). I know this may be down to my own inexperience in spotting the queen, but it has left me a little worried as I had really wanted to see her and make sure she was definitely there.

Lastly, the bees have drawn out half of one of my big new 14x12 frames, roughly how long should I expect them to take to fill them out fully? I am feeding 1:1 sugar syrup to help with wax production as per literature. So far they have taken approx 2 ltrs in the first week. Should I continue to feed wax, or stop and force them to use their honey stores? They have capped honey on 2 of the shallow nuc frames.

Thanks in advance and sorry for any glaringly stupid questions

 

[Silly Bee]

If I see larvae I'm satisfied, smaller the better, eggs are a bonus, I rarely look for HM unless I need to.

 

[Rob55]

Anything I saw seemed to be capped but in all honesty I was so in awe of the whole thing I'm not sure I looked properly into the cells, I was fixated on finding HM.

Would it be too soon to open them up in a couple of days again to put my mind at rest? I go on holiday for a week this Wednesday and would like to do a mini inspection before I go, just to make sure all is well.

 

[Silly Bee]

Don't get a "Find the queen" fixation.

I'd leave them alone.

 

[Moggs]

As each inspection sets the bees' progress back a little, I would be inclined to leave them alone. The first thing that you need for an inspection is a good reason. If your bees seemed queenright and there were no signs of congestion or swarm preparation (and why should there be?) then I would imagine that all is well.

However, there will come a time when you need to find the queen. It would be a good idea to get into queen spotting mode throughout your early inspections (better to find her amongst relatively few bees rather than a fully productive hive). So, at your next (routine) inspection it may help if you carry a mental picture of the queen as you scan the combs - (think 'queen' and she will often appear as if by magic).

It helps if you use an absolute minimum of smoke, stay focused on that visualisation and ignore all other bee activity. She will of course be on or near brood and will prefer to scurry away into the dark, so check the 'closed' facing side of the frames as you lift.

You will also find that the temperament and sound of a queenless colony leaves little doubt, more often than not.

 

[Silly Bee]

Our bee inspector reckons if you give the hive a sharp tap, if it is queen right, the bees will roar and then die down, if Q- it will roar and will not die down so fast.

 

[Rob55]

Ok thanks guys. I have probably just missed her.

Another question - could I remove one of the outer shallow frames now before she lays in it and before they build wild comb beneath it, there is one which is partially capped stores with no brood and no larvae in it, this would leave me with one less headache frame with wild comb underneath and allow me to add another new 14x12 frame. Would this set the bees back or would it be a good idea?

 

[Moggs]

As your plan is to move to 14 x 12 you will have to change frames by one means or another so if they don't need the stores, get on with it! You don't want to sacrifice brood though. You must also have a strategy to prevent the queen laying back in the standard nationals. There are other ways to achieve this, some more drastic than others - e.g Bailey comb change or shook swarm (you probably won't want to consider the latter with a developing colony).

You will have to manage or tolerate the brace comb building (the importance of accurate bee space should be an important consideration in any comb change operation - yours is not an ideal method). Remember too that the bees will have to keep any brood warm.

 

[Rob55]

Thanks Moggs, I'll get onto that then, would prefer to get rid of the shallow frames as soon as I can.

Just uploaded a small video of todays inspection The second frame in the clip is the one I will remove providing she has not laid in it when I do next inspection.

http://youtu.be/04uJ416cYrI

 

[Moggs]

Chuckled at you throwing the hive tool to the ground. You might be hanged drawn and quartered in certain circles for such a sin

As you develop confidence, you might like to think of the advantages of going for thinner (much thinner!) gloves. Sausage fingers are not conducive to happy bees. You will probably find that the greater sensitivity afforded by thin gloves makes for more gentle manipulation (and quieter bees, especially if they are of that disposition).

 

[Rob55]

Yes lol my prelim examiner also commented I should learn to hold the hive tool and the frame at the same time - unfortunately I have small hands so not sure how easy that will be to master!

As for gloves - I have nitrile gloves in my workshop for working on cars, I might give them a go if I get the confidence up a bit. Have read they are difficult for the bees to sting through, but I'm sure they will still manage it!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Try a smaller hive tool - the big T's standard j tool is a neat little model

 

[youngyoungs]

Rob55,

As I relative newbee I don't think I can make too many comments, but from my experience.

I wear marigolds with nitriles over the top - they give the right amount of "feel", but still let me feel that I have some protection between me and the bees. I also have the same hive tool as you - try both and see which you prefer.

Secondly - I can't really tell from your brood box, but have you considered taking one of the frames out and putting a dummy board in at one side to give you more space when you are doing your insepctions?

Thirdly, in my inspections, I tend to look for larvae, before I start looking for eggs. I think I need more practice at spotting eggs.

Lastly, looking for the queen. If you go in and look for her - usually you don't find her. Then just when you think you won't find her - you do. Once everything is settled, get her marked. Even then, they're tricky to find.

Great video-welcome to the forum.

 

[jackbee]

Firstly, during the inspection there were a lot of bees flying in the vicinity of the hive and around my suit. None of them landed on me or to the best of my knowledge tried to sting, but there were a lot in the air and some high pitched buzzing. Weather was sunny about 16c and no rain since yesterday, so ideal conditions surely for inspecting. Is this an indication I may have slightly bad tempered bees?

If you manage to inspect without any bees flying around then i reckon you've got dead bees!!

Sounds like pretty good bees if they didn't land on you or sting you, certainly don't sound bad tempered, there's some horror stories on here about bad tempered bees, people not being able to see out of veil, hat weighed down, hands covered etc, so sounds like yours are pretty good.

Personally I love being in the middle of flying bees and find the buzz calming, almost zen-like