first inspection

[Spanker]

Hi guys

Im about to do my first inspection I've had them in the hive about a week now! OK well 5 days 11 hours and 23 minutes and im itching to see how they're doing.

they were put on foundation how many frames should be drawn out by now?
im hoping to find the queen, should i be seeing eggs at this point?

anything else I should be looking for at this stage?
should i put a super on now or just leave the hive?

soo many questions
Thanks

 

[Murox]

You would do well to contact your local association and get a mentor or more experienced keeper to assist you initially.
Yes you should be seeing eggs and brood in all stages (BIAS).

The number of frames drawn "by now" will depend on a variety of things. bees only draw comb when they need it. they need it for eggs/brood and to store nectar and pollen. It takes a LOT of nectar for bees to draw wax. gathering nectar (and pollen) depends upon the weather. Feeding a 1:1 syrup will aid them drawing foundation, BUT they will also store any surplus, which will "contaminate" any honey with sugar. If your bees do not have a super on top of the brood box and it is the Brood frames that are mainly foundation, then their is no need to be concerned about sugar in your honey.
Get yourself a couple of books on the subject - perhaps start with Haynes Manual of Beekeeping - its a good starter I am told; and later Practical Beekeeping - by Clive de Bruyn.

Don't put a super on until you have eight seams full of bees.

 

[linoleum bonypart]

I remember the anticipation lol... Just remember the more times you go in the more chance there is to kill or lose the queen look for eggs n grubs no worries if u don't see the queen and of course queen cells

 

[Adam Bee]

First off: Spanker, I don't want to hijack your thread, so please post what you found. I just completed my first inspection and thought 2 threads would be silly. If I'm crowding your space, let me know.

 

[Adam Bee]

So, I installed a 6 frame nuc into a 12 frame box on Tuesday. The weather was warm and my son wanted to help, so we did our first inspection today. We were fairly quick and I didn't stop and study each frame in detail, but I did take a photo of each side.

When installing the frames on Tuesday, moving out from the center, I had placed the the 6 frames in the brood box with 4 frames in the very center, then an empty frame on each side followed by the last 2 frames from the nuc to encourage brood. This left 2 empty frames on either side to fill in the box. My empty frames were using starter strips only; no foundation.

During the inspection, I found that the ladies had drawn three full frames of fresh comb: the two closest to the center and one to the outside. Of the three remaining new frames all three had starter comb either in the center or along the top bar.

I found the queen, there was capped worker and drone cells from the nuc. Eggs could be seen in the fresh comb on the new frames. There was some nectar and some pollen.

You can see the frame pattern here:

Full frame of fresh comb:

Partial frame:

Her Majesty:

The assistant beekeeper adjusting the last few frames:

 

[Adam Bee]

Spanker, JazzJPH, let us know how your inspections went!

 

[JazzJPH]

Spanker, JazzJPH, let us know how your inspections went!

How did you know I would be reading this?

I still have 5 days to wait!

 

[Millet]

Hard to say how many frames they have drawn in a week but if they need them they will draw them out as and when..
You want to be slowly and gently going through the hive from the out side first..check the first frame you take out which will probably be undrawn for the Queen.. when you are confident she is not there give the frame a little shake into the hive to get most of the bees from it and stand the frame on the ground at the hive entrance..that will give any nurse bees the chance to go back in the hive if you have any on the frame..
This will give you space to remove the frames without rolling the bees...what you want to see first is stores and pollen and as you get further into the hive you want to be seeing sealed brood open brood and eggs depending on the bees it will vary how many eggs and brood you see..once you get through the brood you should start seeing stores and pollen again..
As for seeing the Queen it is always good to see her and you want to start practicing now..look for nothing else but the Queen when you want to find her..look for clumsy movement a bigger abdomen and those long brown back legs..if you miss her this time try again next time...aslong as you have eggs and brood you will have a Queen in there somewhere..
Good luck..

 

[enrico]

God! It all looks so new and fresh and clean. Wait until next year!!!!! Good luck to you both
E

 

[Show me the honey]

So, I installed a 6 frame nuc into a 12 frame box on Tuesday. The weather was warm and my son wanted to help, so we did our first inspection today. We were fairly quick and I didn't stop and study each frame in detail, but I did take a photo of each side.

When installing the frames on Tuesday, moving out from the center, I had placed the the 6 frames in the brood box with 4 frames in the very center, then an empty frame on each side followed by the last 2 frames from the nuc to encourage brood. This left 2 empty frames on either side to fill in the box. My empty frames were using starter strips only; no foundation.

During the inspection, I found that the ladies had drawn three full frames of fresh comb: the two closest to the center and one to the outside. Of the three remaining new frames all three had starter comb either in the center or along the top bar.

I found the queen, there was capped worker and drone cells from the nuc. Eggs could be seen in the fresh comb on the new frames. There was some nectar and some pollen.

You can see the frame pattern here:

Full frame of fresh comb:

Partial frame:

Her Majesty:

The assistant beekeeper adjusting the last few frames:

Cover them holes in the crownboard up don’t need them open and also once’s you have removed one frame just slide them over so the frames are still in the box

 

[drex]

I only ever look for the queen if I specifically need to find her, if doing an AS, for example. Perfectly happy if I see eggs and bees are happy.

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Any reason you are going the foundation less route... You are going to have to be very careful

 

[Spanker]

First off: Spanker, I don't want to hijack your thread, so please post what you found. I just completed my first inspection and thought 2 threads would be silly. If I'm crowding your space, let me know.

no problem adam im glad of all the info i can get

 

[JazzJPH]

Any reason you are going the foundation less route... You are going to have to be very careful

Is there much difference in how bees draw out a full sheet of foundation compared to just a starter strip?

 

[Spanker]

so i had a quick look inside lots of comb drawn probably 6 full frames.
some honey/syrup stored at the top of some frames uncapped.


i didn't see the queen and i also didn't see any brood or eggs im hoping this is my inexperience. and not that ive no queen.

this was a collected swarm so i didn't have any brood to start with.

ive joined mdbka so will see if there's any local beek's close to me that could maybe mentor or help with finding and marking the queen.

only took the 2 photos as i was on my own and had my hands full lol.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ku4gtW3uikYXaYrVA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Lga7cQF7ukRkyt12A

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Is there much difference in how bees draw out a full sheet of foundation compared to just a starter strip?

Yes wired foundation is used as it supports and reinforces the comb.... Warm comb bends and you have to manipulate the frames a certain direction... Generally be alot more careful

 

[Adam Bee]

Cover them holes in the crownboard up don’t need them open and also once’s you have removed one frame just slide them over so the frames are still in the box

Ah, yes. I do have a cover for the holes in the crown board. It's just out of frame; but good advice! Thanks! I did remove 3 frames (2 were fairly empty) to give me more room to work, as I was worried that I'd need the extra space.

Is there much difference in how bees draw out a full sheet of foundation compared to just a starter strip?

What I found fascinating was the on the full frames of drawn comb, the bees were leaving one bee space around all the edges, rather than filling the frame to the sides.

And yes: Careful! If you inspect a frame by turning it horizontal and looking down on the comb, it could fall out; especially if it's not secured to the sides and bottom of the frame; and doubly especially if it's full of honey or brood. This is a problem for people like top bar beekeepers (hTBH or Warre) who have no side supports at all!

Any reason you are going the foundation less route... You are going to have to be very careful

No. Not specifically. In general I'm not worried about honey production, so having the bees expend energy and supplies to build comb is ok with me. I'm curious about how bees work and the choices they will make. I'm also not using a queen excluder, again because I am not concerned about honey production, I don't need to keep her (or brood) out of the supers. I am aware I need to be careful when manipulating the frames, especially when they get heavy. Right now all they had was eggs.

We also saw a lot of waggle-dancing going on when we inspected the frames.

 

[Helen]

God! It all looks so new and fresh and clean. Wait until next year!!!!!

Just what I was thinking. The girls will soon decorate the house with Shades of Wax and highlights of Tenacious Propolis.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Just what I was thinking. The girls will soon decorate the house with Shades of Wax and highlights of Tenacious Propolis.

Yes it's amazing how quick it gets gunged up ...... this was about 6 months work by some of my ladies!

 

[SWEET]

You can see the frame pattern here:

I'd remove an outer frame and place a frame feeder in there, will get things moving fast