Two questions from a beginner:
I live in Northern Kentucky (Boone County). I have two hives of italian honeybees. Both hives have two brood chambers, queen excluder. One hive has two honey supers on it and the other has only one.
1. How detailed should my inspections be at this time of year? When I last looked under the lid, the bees had really created a massive amount of burr comb between frame #10 and the outside wall of the top brood box. When I managed to get this frame out, a ton of honey poured out, all over the bees, and dripped down into the hive. I quickly placed it back inside, afraid I would tear up the hive too much. Please tell me about this and what should be done about it. Should I make an effort to clean all of this out?
2. When should I remove the honey supers and close up the hive for the winter? Entrance reducer, mouse guard, etc.
Thanks.
NKYBEEKEEPER
I pull every frame, inspect, and remove bad comb every 7-10 days.
Once they've drawn comb you can't work around, you are going to have to rip things up sooner or later. I prefer sooner, as the problem only gets worse. It is a lot easier to prevent problems than fix them.
As far as the supers go, ideally you remove them whenever they are full of capped honey. If the bees aren't going to manage to fill them, then it is a matter of figuring out when your flow has ended and when the honey has been sufficiently dehydrated.
The bees don't need the inspection, but you might. You'll learn a lot.
Quote1. How detailed should my inspections be at this time of year?
As a beginner, it's more important for you to LEARN than it is to worry about interferring with the bees. If your bees are building lots of burr comb; drawing out frames unevenly so that they're hard to remove, it's better to deal with it sooner rather than later. You need to have removable frames - if the girls are messing things up, then, yes, you should clean it up. One more thing, late summer is when mite counts typically spike. You need to do mite counts and treat if needed.
Quote2. When should I remove the honey supers and close up the hive for the winter? Entrance reducer, mouse guard, etc
Remove honey supers when they're capped. Add the mouse guard in the fall when the nights start getting colder.
A couple more things...
Update your profile to include your location. Although your username indicates your location, we don't want to think of you as being perpetually "Hopelessly Lost". :)
Also, are you involved with a local bee club? Kentucky has got some great clubs and they are good places to find mentors and get connected with nearby beeks:
http://www.kyagr.com/statevet/bees/association/index.htm