Beverley
Beekeepers' Association
The
local Beekeeping Association for East Yorkshire
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Examining
Your Bees
We need to examine our colonies on a weekly basis during
the period May to August to ensure the well being of the
colony and maximise the honey crop.
However, if the weather conditions are not good, leave well
alone and, if the bees are in a really bad mood, try again
later. The ideal time is mid-day when the foraging bees are
out collecting nectar.
There are different tasks to do depending on the time of
year - these are detailed in the beekeeping calendar.
What are we looking for?
When
we examine our bees we want to make sure that the colony is
healthy and doing what it should be doing at that
particular time of year.
We need to check:-
1. Are there many bees present?
2. What is our first reaction to the temperament of the
bees?
3. The condition of the combs, are they dirty? Should we
replace them?
4. Are there sufficient stores to last until our next
inspection? If not, is there plenty of nectar coming in? If
not, then feed.
5. Is the queen present and laying normally? Can we see
eggs?
6. Is there plenty of worker brood? Is there a lot of drone
brood? Is the queen laying in an orderly pattern?
7. Is there plenty of room for her to lay?
8. Are there any indications that the colony is preparing
to swarm? Are there queen cells?
9. Is there plenty of room to store honey - should we
super?
10. Is the honey ripe? Can we take some honey away?
11. Is there any sign of disease? Do we need to test or
treat for disease?
12. Is any hive repair needed?
A
Hive Record Card or Note Book
A
record card (kept in a plastic wallet under the hive roof)
or notebook should be updated each time you inspect your
bees.
On completion of the examination notes should be made on
the hive record card to indicate the temperament of the
bees, how many combs of brood were present, whether or not
it was necessary to add a super, what action we took within
the hive and what action we want to carry out on our next
inspection. It is also important to make a note of the
weather conditions, especially if the bees have been a bit
touchy. Bees will react to inclement weather conditions and
can anticipate thundery weather sometime before it actually
arrives.
The record card should be consulted before starting an
inspection!