time of day to inspect?

[goodbobby]

This is my fourth year keeping bees and my own routine has had to be changed somewhat following a bad leg break last winter. For the time being, this has restricted my mobility and, as I have a drive to, plus 150 yard walk to out apiary, walking and carrying has to be very thoroughly planned in advance ..Basically my pain threshold diminishes significantly after about an hour so I have to build this into my agenda!

It would be helpful if I could change my timetable and inspect my hives mid-morning, 9 to10 o'clock-ish rather than my current practice of between 1 and 3 pm . However I have found that the bees hours seem to start around 10am peaking at about 4-6pm when the foragers are returning in big numbers.

I try not to over-fiddle with my hives as I strongly believe that it is counter productive to keep disturbing the colonies unnecessarily. I inspect weekly, build in planned manipulations at that time and otherwise just do a 30 second passing check when I am in the vicinity. To my mind looking through the hives when most of the bees are at home would disrupt a whole days foraging and the less bees that are present, the likelihood of damage and riling tempers is reduced.

Can ask time-experienced forum members theiir thoughts, experiences? Is this planned early-start a no-no?

 

[oliver90owner]

Many bee farmers have to start early and finish late at this time of the year.

Inspections always disrupt something - late, there is a lot of nectar in the frames and some can be spilt; early and you need to consider any mating queens, etc etc. It goes on and on. So your choice. I would tend to get them done early, but it is cooler in the morning (chilled brood), but you may have a second choice, if it is raining at the normal inspection time!

Mine, at this time of the year, are away and busy well before ten if the weather is warm, bright and sunny.

Regards, RAB

 

[YorkshireBees]

I agree with RAB and having 13 hives to inspect at the moment I will start as soon as the temp rises enough. Also as it is a very weather dependent activity I would much rather start early if the sun is out leaving more time to catch up when the odd shower interrupts my timetable!

 

[For want of a better word]

What are your parameters.... temperature/ humidity/Lux level/ time wise etc


eg 11 deg C / <50% / 10.000 (bright) / 10.00 am to 4.00 pm ( June, July )

 

[Winker]

What are your parameters.... temperature/ humidity/Lux level/ time wise etc


eg 11 deg C / <50% / 10.000 (bright) / 10.00 am to 4.00 pm ( June, July )

Thats a bit technical is it not. Warm and dry is good enough for me inbetween 10am-12am if i can.

 

[Poly Hive]

It is up to the beekeeper to decide what suits best.

PH

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

My local BKA always start inspections at the apiary at 10 in the morning - bees don't seem to mind

 

[YorkshireBees]

What are your parameters.... temperature/ humidity/Lux level/ time wise etc


eg 11 deg C / <50% / 10.000 (bright) / 10.00 am to 4.00 pm ( June, July )

I tend to aim for 15 deg C or above, no rain, preferably no thunderstorms in the area and as light wind as possible however when I have a set schedule of inspections or manipulations and a limited timescale then sometimes not all of the criteria can be met.

Again it's down to personal preference.

 

[victor meldrew]

My local BKA always start inspections at the apiary at 10 in the morning - bees don't seem to mind

I had a friend who had an outapiary close to a golf course. He used to inspect first light to give the bees time to settle down before the first golfers drifted by
Worked for him ,he used this site for years .(At least the boundry markers were adhered to )

John Wilkinson

 

[ladyrose1956]

Inspection of hives

I inspect my hives between 9.00am and 10.00am and i have found that the bees are more easy to manage you can get to inspect them better becuse they are a lot quieter early in the morning as to later on it the day as it gets more hotter