Hello...
I did the first full insp of my hives today.....Both made it through the winter. I put to use the information on how to find queens to use when I did the insp. I found both queens in the hives that I have.....Both hive have drone brood & brood. Capped an uncapped.....Lots of pollen in both hives.....Thank's again for the help now I know what to look for the next time I need to find them.....Thank you for a great site that you have.
P.S.....Didn't see any mites.... :D
James Shoemaker
Pondman :D
James:
Very Awesome!!!!!
Thanks for the kind words and I am really glad anything I've said and the thousands of posts here are coming in handy.
I can't think of a better inspection, honestly. Sounds like everything is great and ready to go for this season!!!!
Make sure that you do what I regretfully didn't do and keep a close watch on their honey stores - when they reach around 75% capacity in the super (and if there is lots of season left) get another super and frames on top ASAP or at least get your fully sealed frames out and replace them with empty fully drawn frames (if possible) or new frames if not.
Keeping them busy, and tempting them with lots of space to fill with nectar is a great boost in the mood and production levels in the colony - both worker productivity and also in brood count. Seeing "empty space" that is possible to fill during a season GREATLY improves the GUSTO of the entire hive.
Great news again about your bees, being in WV is a real help with a longer warm season, so I'm sure you'll do great again this year - congratulations and again, thanks for all the kind words.