Newbie's first inspection (with pictures)

Draginol · May 28, 2007, 05:51:30 PM

Greetings!

Today was a beautiful day and my son and I took this opportunity to do our first inspection of our two hives.

Hive 1 has a lot of capped brood and we found the queen no problem.

Hive 2 we couldn't find the queen but there was some capped brood and some drone cells but a lot less progress than the other one. Is there a way to tell if the hive is queenless without inspecting further?

Here are some pictures:

Hive 1: Lots of capped brood. Found the queen. Looks good. Other frames are covered in bees.

Super-high resolution version: http://www.stardock.com/brad/bees/IMG_4684.JPG

Hive 2:

Not nearly as many bees, capped brood found but couldn't find queen nor could I find any queen cells.

Super-high resolution version: http://www.stardock.com/brad/bees/IMG_4686.JPG

A few drone cells on another frame in hive 2:

Super high-resolution version: http://www.stardock.com/brad/bees/IMG_4687.JPG

So I'm not sure how much to worry about Hive 2 yet. Any suggestions or opinions? Thanks!

Kirk-o · May 28, 2007, 06:13:44 PM

Looks good dude
kirko

Kathyp · May 28, 2007, 06:23:18 PM

looks like there are a fair amount of larvae in that 3rd shot?

Draginol · May 28, 2007, 06:27:40 PM

Yea, it's just that I wasn't able to find the queen and there seems to be a lot less activity in hive 2 compared to hive 1.

So I'm not sure if I need to worry. With only a few frames to check, it seems like finding the queen wouldn't be a problem.

The bees were also incredibly docile in hive 2. No smoke, they were completely unaggressive and almost sluggish compared to Hive 1 which seemed more active.

Understudy · May 28, 2007, 07:06:55 PM

Things seem to be very good. Keep going.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

ChickenWing · May 28, 2007, 07:24:00 PM

Dont worry about it. The fact that they have capped brood, no queen cells, and you say they were docile indicates they are fine. Queens are not easy to find, even in new hives.

trapperbob · May 28, 2007, 10:55:35 PM

It took a few inspections before I seen the queen and even then I found her by accident. Seems if you are looking on purpose she's never there and when you are not looking and just doing a checkup bingo. So don't worry when you least expect it she will show up.

Brian D. Bray · May 28, 2007, 11:08:31 PM

The best way to spot the queen is at arms length and with perifial vision. Staring at the bees on the frames makes them blurry.