1st hive inspection

lewisworkshop · March 30, 2017, 04:44:28 PM

New beekeeper here. Just in my first hive inspection, the queen was out of her box and the bees were drawing out comb, I tried to look for the queen however I did not find her or see eggs, I did see nectar and pollen stores. Do I need to be worried because I didn't find the queen.

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Acebird · March 30, 2017, 05:16:26 PM

Give it enough time and look for eggs or brood.

CrazyTalk · March 30, 2017, 05:29:31 PM

If you've verified that she's out of the queen cage, you've done pretty much all you need to do at this point.

Give it at least another week or so, and then get back in and see if you can find brood/eggs. Don't worry about finding the queen.

bwallace23350 · March 30, 2017, 05:54:54 PM

Give it some time. It could be hard to spot the queen the first time. If you don't see brood in at least 2 weeks then be worried.

cao · March 30, 2017, 06:23:00 PM

Welcome

herbhome · March 30, 2017, 06:46:36 PM

Welcome,

I went a year without seeing my first queen. She was dark and sneaky as a ninja. Got her marked now so it's easier. Main thing is look for brood-eggs, larvae, capped pupae. If you have that all is well.

lewisworkshop · March 30, 2017, 06:55:06 PM

Thank you everyone for the info, this is my first hive and hoping it goes well to add more next yr

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BeeMaster2 · March 30, 2017, 07:41:10 PM

Lewis,
Giving her time is important.
You did not mention when you put the bees in the box. Is it a mated queen or is she a virgn?

lewisworkshop · March 31, 2017, 09:17:14 AM

The queen came with my package and I installed it about a week ago, I believe it is a mated queen

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bwallace23350 · March 31, 2017, 09:51:23 AM

Quote from: lewisworkshop on March 31, 2017, 09:17:14 AM
The queen came with my package and I installed it about a week ago, I believe it is a mated queen

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Check again in a week. She will probably be laying by then.

BeeMaster2 · March 31, 2017, 12:21:38 PM

Ditto

sc-bee · March 31, 2017, 03:00:55 PM

She probably already is laying. Take a camera and take pictures directly over the comb,not angled, then you can zoom in and learn what to look for

FlexMedia.tv · March 31, 2017, 11:56:08 PM

It took me a couple of weeks with my first one. I had to buy a jewelry magnifying headset so I could even see what I was trying to find

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Acebird · April 01, 2017, 09:18:08 AM

Boy that is some major fish eye in that photo. Back away from the target next time. I know the frame will look small in the photo but you can zoom in and crop if you want. The difference is you will be able to see into most of the cells in the frame instead of just seeing into 25 cells in the center.

bwallace23350 · April 01, 2017, 09:39:32 AM

One thing I forgot to add was welcome to the world of beekeeping. It is only my 2nd year and it is one of the best and most addicting hobbies. I worry about my bees like I do a pet.

GSF · April 03, 2017, 02:54:18 PM

She probably already is laying. Take a camera and take pictures directly over the comb,not angled, then you can zoom in and learn what to look for Ditto. That way you can just take your time and not have to worry about robbing or anything. I did that my first year or so. Pretty neat trick. I learned it on here as well :)

erbs honey · April 03, 2017, 11:38:07 PM

Then you can show us your pictures!