Pros vs. hobbyists: how often do you enter

[bayareaartist]

My question is how often do the pros enter their hives to inspect?
During the honey flow?

I have four hives now, I am looking at three and I am not looking at the last one to see if not disturbing the hive will make it stronger and make the honey collection better.

I think one of the problems is that with the hobby beekeeper the tendency is to go in and look in the hive weekly and this sets the hive back by the cluster loosing heat.
But this could be the area I am in.
My hives are in San Francisco and it is around 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit daily and it does not spike for awhile.


Thank you,

[Finsky]

I think one of the problems is that with the hobby beekeeper the tendency is to go in and look in the hive weekly and this sets the hive back by the cluster loosing heat.,

Here in Finland I am not afraid of that.

It is important that beginner look every week hive, how it developes. It is enough if you look 2-4 frame.  It is only way to get anticipation, what is happening in the hive. Beekeeping is to manage direction of development.

To see queen is not important.

During swarming season is very important to look does hive has queen cells and levaluate enlargement. These happens every week.

 During honey flow it too important to follow how honey comes in and how much hive has free room.  

To look for diseases is important.

June and July go here that I look my hives every week because I visit every week on my summer cottage.

[Hi-Tech]

I look every week but since it is 97 degrees today acording to my temp gauge, heat loss is not an issue.

Of course, South Alabama bees probably run the air conditioner a lot and may be getting mad that I am letting the cool air out...  

[Scott Derrick]

I'm a new beek and I go into the hives every Saturday. I don't tear them completely down but I do check to see if the queen is laying eggs and that I have brood both uncapped and capped. I guess that is look for evidence of a queen. I also check to make sure they are not getting too crowded.

Scott

[Brian D. Bray]

The more you go into a hive the greater your learning curve.  Newbees go every week and that's great but as they gain knoweldge and confidence that frequency of hive inspection normally drops to bi-weekly or even monthly.  
In some areas, due to such things as climate, environment, etc., hive inspection on a frequent schedule can be necessary.  In Finsky's case A short summer season dictates he attend to his bees often so that they can be managed for maximum production in the shortest amount of time.

[Understudy]

I have two hives. I look in the top everyother day and maybe look at one frame.  I am still new to beekeeeping so learning and watching has been very good for me.

Every two weeks I go in full deal. I look at four to five frames per box and check for disease, capacity and brood. If I spot the queen all the better, but not an end of the world if I don't.

I live in south Florida. Heat loss is not an issue here. Overheating is. I see no reason to end up with a bunch of bees working as an airconditioning system when they should be foraging.  So I am taking steps to prevent my bees from becoming medium rare.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[Apis629]

Durring winter (november-December) I've been known to go a month without checking the hives.  I know they're OK at the time and nothing much is going to happen.  Durring Spring (January-May) I like to check every week given the swarm cells will start developing and that gives me a good chance to evaluate my queens.  Heat loss isn't an issue from about March-October.  Durring summer I try to check on them a minimum of once every 2 weeks.  However, although this is how I try to set it up, half the time it's just so much FUN going to see the girls that I may do it every week. :D

[Hi-Tech]

I have to make myself limit it to once a week....

Sometimes I fail...

[BEE C]

I have tried to go in each week, but in rainy weather which drops to 15 degrees I don't if I can help it.  I stopped giving sugar syrup two weeks ago.  I would just slide the corner of the second  brood box enough to fill the frame feeder, every three days with these packages starting on foundation in april.  Every two weeks or so I would pull frames out to check for brood patern, to make royal jelly, or when I added the second brood, I moved two frames of emerging brood into the middle of the second.  I added the queen excluder and the first super (using all mediums) two days ago, and have been leaving them alone during the last few wet days.  I try to limit my major frame inspections around checking for swarm cells, and brood collection for royal jelly, and space check before adding second brood.  I added the second brood and the first super when the bees had filled out nine of ten foundation on frames, and the queen had laid in at least as much.  I found three frames were mainly sugar syrup and pollen stashed away (dandilion and apple pollen).

[Finsky]

with these packages starting on foundation in april.

You have new package and you have done all what shall be done with normay wintered hive. I do same thngs when I have wintered hive with 2 box  You hive cannot be so big thet it all what you are going to do.

I would just slide the corner of the second  brood box enough to fill the frame feeder, every three days

We have here in Finland cherry trees in blossom and dandelions start to bloom. It is midday and temperature is 10C. It rains.

Every two weeks or so I would pull frames out to check for brood patern,

Brood pattern is the quality of queen. You need not to check it.

What you need to sheck is
* how full box and frames are bees
* do they have enough room
* have they enough food
* if brooad area is porous, is it diseases
* how much is gong to emerge new bees next week

to make royal jelly ????????????

Your package is not going to swarm this summer if you do not fill hive with syrup. And if you fill, colony has no space to make more brood.

or when I added the second brood, I moved two frames of emerging brood into the middle of the second.

You have cold weather. When you add second box, put it under brood box. When colony enlarge they draw combs with honey. Dont force them draw cells with syrup.

I added the queen excluder and the first super (using all mediums) two days ago,

You need not exluder because you should try to get queen make brood in two box. When hive has 4 box, it is ready to make honey to you. I will be July when it is ready for that.

My hives have wintered in two box and I need not yet put honey boxes on. My hives had in the middele of May 2 boxes full of brood.

I try to limit my major frame inspections around checking for swarm cells, and brood collection for royal jelly, ).

You hive is not going to swarm because it is too small. If your aim is going to get royal jelly, you will spoil your hive.

had filled out nine of ten foundation on frames, and the queen had laid in at least as much.
I found three frames were mainly sugar syrup and pollen stashed away

How many frames = 10
How many foundations ?
How many brood ?
How many food ?

[BEE C]

You have new package and you have done all what shall be done with normay wintered hive. I do same thngs when I have wintered hive with 2 box You hive cannot be so big thet it all what you are going to do.

I'm trying to get some honey, build for splits next spring, get some royal jelly and queen rearing experience.  I surely will get some honey, have hives big enough to split in spring, and I just did some royal jelly experiment and the hives seem to be fine?  I use plastic queen cups with grafted larvae to make royal jelly.  The queen cups are put in the second brood over a queen excluder.  The smell of the queen is less because they have to pass through the excluder, I was skeptical of the method too but it worked.  I stopped making royal jelly after doing it, to not encourage a swarm tendency.

We have here in Finland cherry trees in blossom and dandelions start to bloom. It is midday and temperature is 10C. It rains.

We have a much milder spring, this year alternating days of sun and rain.  Dandilions/apple/blueberries are pretty much finshed.  Blackberries starting.  Daytime temps are 23C today, muggy and raining.

You need not exluder because you should try to get queen make brood in two box. When hive has 4 box, it is ready to make honey to you. I will be July when it is ready for that.

My hives have wintered in two box and I need not yet put honey boxes on. My hives had in the middele of May 2 boxes full of brood.

My excluder is between the top of the second brood box and the first super.  Four boxes of brood?  I plan of using two boxes of brood and however many supers I'll need.  Two if I extract frames weekly.  Most hives here are wintered in two boxes, with two or three supers added during the flow.  The commercial apiary I work at has over a thousand hives done this way.  I think Langstroth standards mainly?  Ten frame boxes full of honey max out on average at 80 pounds.  Our temp and climate are very mild, giving successive smaller flows from spring through fall.  Provincial average is about 80 pounds per hive.  Good years 150 pounds.  Peace River valley up to 350 pounds of honey per hive.  My area is lower overall average of 120 pounds per hive.  
middle of may I also had two boxes full of brood.  Or at least 80% full before the second brood box and then the first super.

You hive is not going to swarm because it is too small. If your aim is going to get royal jelly, you will spoil your hive.

If my queens were to fail would the hive not still swarm?
How will Royal jelly production spoil my hive??I did an experiment to see if I could make royal jelly the way I was taught, I am no longer making royal jelly because I was worried about inducing swarming tendencies.  Is that what you mean? or something else?

[Finsky]

[ I am no longer making royal jelly because I was worried about inducing swarming tendencies.  Is that what you mean? or something else?

That is waht I means.

Your hive is really big. With how big package you started in April? How many frames full of bees?

[BEE C]

Finsky, here are two different pics of about how four frames looked when I hived. in each brood box.  Bees were on top like this after I smoked my way in.

I have both hives in a ventilated and insulated hive hut to protect against east wind and bears.  the hives are lifted off the ground.

[Brian D. Bray]

>>If my queens were to fail would the hive not still swarm?

No they would raise a new queen from the latest batch of eggs.

You and Finsky are talking apple and oranges.  Finsky concentrates only on volume honey production which requires large amount of bees for rapid harvest in short summer seasons.
The Focus of Harvesting Royal Jelly calls for different management practices.  The method you describe for collecting royal jelly sounds good, just remember that it only takes one missed cell to produce a queen and a swarm.  The frequency of visits required to the hive are much more with harvesting royal jelly.

[BEE C]

Thats what makes this forum so interesting. :D ..each beeker has different objectives, markets, climates, diseases, regulations, etc.  Being new to this myself, I value experience of those who have years on me.  Finsky has directed me to some great info, and its great to have someone with years of beeking give me their opinion.  I don't know if its apples or oranges that I'm aiming for yet.  I've taken a queen rearing and royal jelly making course and want to see how my experiments go.  Queen rearing really appeals to me as an almost necessary part of beekeeping, though very labour intensive.  Setting up different apiary sites with different goals seems to be where I'm headed.  Your right though beekeeping is a lot of work, managing hives can't be sloppy.  Techniques have to be updated especially for medicines, and styles of working the hives should be a work smart not harder kind of thing.  Right now I have the option of running different experiments and intensive management, as I only have two hives.  once my apiary expands next year and every year after I will have less and less time for this.

[Brian D. Bray]

Queen rearing,  I'm not that far south of you, maybe I could meet you at Peach Arch Park in Blaine and we could do a Spymaster pass of queens or something.

A caution: I think I know where you're headed and I would suggest slowing the pace and expanding the experience level before jumping into a commercial operation.  Patience is Wisdom.

[BEE C]

Economic reality is the speadbump to my ambition.  I'd love to do the spymaster passoff of queens, but my luck I would get caught or worse pass off a bad queen...my apiary is only a two hive hut, and even if my electric fence was up I couldn't add too many nucs/splits or packages for the next few years because I'm having my wedding on the property.  My LONG term goal is to have two apiary fields fenced in on our property (7 acres) each with no more than forty hives.  Beekeeping for me is a relaxing and fascinating hobby.  Friends and family think I've lost the plot because i relax from work by working with my bees :? ?  I tend to putter around or in my hives spending time outdoors whenever I can.  Its so cliche but I prefer to spend time with my bees than most people I know...

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Do or do not, there is no try.  (Master Yoda.)

[Finsky]

You and Finsky are talking apple and oranges.  Finsky concentrates only on volume honey production which requires large amount of bees .

Not at all Brian. When I have smal nuc, I try to raise hive in good condition.  Now I see two hives and they are as small I guessed.  To produce royal yelly?

I am just computing in my summer cottage library. I try to seach queen cells and I throw all royal jelly to bushes.  Dandelion is just in blossom. It gives nice yield this week.

Brian, do you really try to encourage beginner in that job?
.

[Brian D. Bray]

Finsky,

>>Brian, do you really try to encourage beginner in that job?

Please note I said: A caution: I think I know where you're headed and I would suggest slowing the pace and expanding the experience level before jumping into a commercial operation. Patience is Wisdom.

I believe in answering the questions asked, if for no other reason than future reference.  Queen rearing, Raising for Packaged bees, Farming for Royal Jelly are all enterprises the require experience and expertise and are not meant for the faint of heart, hence the caution..