Minimum Temp for inspecting a hive

[beeno]

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Good heavens.
What a drama.

Rich. Yes, I am sure it will be this spring. By all accounts it has already started in earnest and I for one feel sorry for all two hive owners and anyone dependent on income from bees. However, the latter do not need forum advice one hopes, but is on the forum as a matter of courtesy to the bee business.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Am I wearing a short sleeved shirt and comfortable?

Yes? Inspect.

No? Wear a fleece and don't inspect.

Spot on

 

[Outlander]

Hi JohnyP,
Opening the hive in what temperature is as you have correctly understood a very fluid concept and varies from person to person or organisation to organisation as is evident from the latest advise from FERA or indeed dependent on the circumstances of the hive itself.
Day of Treatment for OA - on the bottle recommendation +3C, regional bee inspector recommendation not below +5C. I personally was happier at +11C and gave the ones desperately trying to get back in a little squirt too. Not a big problem.
Opening to inspect brood quickly just to see if she is laying +13C min. otherwise you will chill broad and it will die. Leisurely inspection a few degrees more.
Emergency inspection because you have reason to believe they cannot get to their stores - any temperature if latest FERA guide is anything to go by as they will be dead in a couple of days anyhow so dead brood is of no consequence. However, most of all the decision is yours and only you know the state of play when you put them to bed in the autumn. The most important point IMHO about being a beek is that you are comfortable and willing to take responsibility for the decisions you make.

Excellent post and

 

[Finman]

Spot on

another Good Heavens!

You and me has such weather as we have, and no changes are promised.
You can wait for better weathers only if the hive has enough food.

The mission is to "inspect", do they have enough food?

- open the inner cover.
- look, do you see capped food in upper parts of frames.
If you see, wait for better weather, if you do not see, feed the hive.

No other inspections will needed in +5C weather.

 

[madasafish]

another Good Heavens!

You and me has such weather as we have, and no changes are promised.
You can wait for better weathers only if the hive has enough food.

The mission is to "inspect", do they have enough food?

- open the inner cover.
- look, do you see capped food in upper parts of frames.
If you see, wait for better weather, if you do not see, feed the hive.

No other inspections will needed in +5C weather.

The OP was asking about their first "spring " i.e. full inspection.

Agree otherwise.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Yeah, just had an email from the NBU stating because of the extended cold weather it is advisable to have a sneaky peek at your bees. A little chilling is better than starvation.
Ideally I'd like to leave them alone but I don't want to leave it too long, I've lost one colony to Nosema this winter, hate to lose any more.

As finman and Richard bees said in their posts, you can tell a lot by just putting the varroa monitoring board in and looking at the pattern and type of debril

other clues are the weight distribution when hefting...all weight to one to side away from the brood debris.....action

i did two quick store frames moves and dummy down to smaller area last week

 

[Finman]

The OP was asking about their first "spring " i.e. full inspection.

Agree otherwise.

after 50 years beekeeping, I do not know what is "full inspection".

There are different reasons to look inside the hive along the year. Like now, I have lots of woopecker holes in my poly hives. When I stuck the hole, tomorrow hole is again open.

To beginner it is usefull to look inside the hive to learn what is happening there.

.

 

[itma]

after 50 years beekeeping, I do not know what is "full inspection".

In Britain the BBKA teach that one should do something special that they call "First Inspection".

This involves a full clean-out of the hive, potentially moving the frames individually into a different, cleaned and sanitised brood box, standing on a cleaned and sanitised floor.

It is a sort of "Coming of Spring" ceremony!


I keep meeting people who have interpreted this instruction as " you must not open up the hive at all until it is warm enough to pull the whole thing apart and work methodically through the whole colony, one frame at a time."
This stupidly strict "hands off" idea is responsible for many winter colony losses.

If you actually have justified concerns, you would have a difficult task to kill a colony by opening them up for a quick check.
But it is quite easy to kill a colony by leaving the lid on, when you should have done something - like feed.

 

[Finman]

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If I wait for 16C first inspection day, I should wait often to June.
To use your own brains is not forbidden.

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