Hive Inspection, Which Comes First?

[DayValleyDahlias]

Weather is good todday and I need to look...I have 2 brood boxes high...Do I look inside the top one first, or take it off, set it on a board, and inspect the lower one first, then place the second on top and look at that one?  Does it matter which gets inspected first?

[Kathyp]

this is another one where you'll get a zillion answers.

last year, i never looked into the bottom box at all.  found brood and could see what i needed without tearing hive apart.  i look into the bottom at the end of summer to make sure they had adequate stores for winter.  if you see what you need to see when you open the hive, why tear the thing apart more than you  have to?

this year, i have one hive that i have pulled the top box off, and one that i have not for quite a time.  i check the top box first and then move it aside.  don't know why...just works for me.

[DayValleyDahlias]

So, if the top box looks good...leave well enough alone?

[UtahBees]

I wanted to find out of the bottom frames had been touched at all though, because if they had, I was going to add a super.

So, I took the first frame out of the top box, inspected the rest of the frames, and then placed the top box on the top cover (turned upside down), and checked the bottom box.

Good thing I had, because it hadn't been worked at all. I decided to switch the boxes and put the feeder in the empty, now top box (after re-stacking), and 1 week later, 4 out of the 9 frames in the once empty (now top) box had gotten worked.

1-2 more weeks, depending on the progress, and I'll place a super in the middle and get that one working too.

Regards,

UtahBees

[Jerrymac]

I usually do it different than most folks I guess. I take an empty hive body with me. I start at the top of the hive checking the frames one at a time and I place these in the empty hive body. I then set the now empty top box on the one I just placed the frames into and once again remove, inspect, each frame and place it in the empty hive body. Some times I go all the way down, or just part of the way. When I am finished I then restack the hive. The frames of course end up back where they strarted from. But the hive now has at least one new box and I can take the other and recondition it if needed.

[Kathyp]

So, if the top box looks good...leave well enough alone?

you have to get in there every once in a while to make sure all is well.  no disease, etc.  i just don't think you need to do it very often.  every time you tear the thing down, you set the bees back.  it's great for learning and won't hurt anything (unless you squish your queen :-) ), but it slows down the works.

[UtahBees]

I take an empty hive body with me. I start at the top of the hive checking the frames one at a time and I place these in the empty hive body. I then set the now empty top box on the one I just placed the frames into and once again remove, inspect, each frame and place it in the empty hive body.

Great idea Jerry. I was thinking of using a frame hanger while doing inspections, but this makes a lot more sense to me to do it your way.

Still learning a ton here! Gotta love it!

Regards,

UtahBees

[Kirk-o]

Ok Keep going it looks like you are having fun.I have spent alot of time in Orem.
I got my first bees from a gal in Santaquin years ago.Orem is such a great place back then there were a lot of fruit trees down around there.
kirko

[DayValleyDahlias]

I love it, but I would love it more if someone came to my hive and went over it with me...to help me see what exactly is going on...

I am going to offer $$ to a fellow dahlia grower I know to come out next week and help me "see" things...

oh my...

[Kathyp]

i like tillies idea of taking a bunch of pictures to look at later.  i did that and saw things i would not have noticed while i was in the hive.  even if you have someone come out, take the camera and shoot a bunch of closeup pics of the frames.  you'll be surprised at what you missed with your naked eyes  :-)

[DayValleyDahlias]

KathyP great idea..I canbarely chew gum adn walk when it comes to opening the hive...As Kirk-O said..I need to relax!