I just need a little advice. I live in Nebraska, just to give everyone a little info. My two deep brood boxes were almost full, so about two weeks ago I took the sugar water away, and added a honey super on top of them. This is new equipment so I peeked in on the super to see how much progress they had made drawing out the comb. My question is, I am wanting to inspect my bottom brood box just to see how things are going down there. On a side note, I have not inspected the bottom brood box for a couple months. What should be my inspection schedule once a super is on and it’s late July? Should I just leave things alone until fall? Thank you all.
Hey Brian,
You should be inspecting the brood boxes in particular much more often than months. 2 weeks is about the right time, 3 weeks max. Even though its a fresh super, get in the entire hive and look it all over and evaluate what is going on. You may find queen cells a plenty and have to make a decision about splitting/knocking off the cells, etc. What is your pest management routine if you aren’t inspecting for months at a time? You will likely have mites if you haven’t been treating and that can take your colony out during winter if you aren’t on top of that.
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Thanks Tim. I have traps in place for hive beetles and intend on treating for mites starting in the fall. I will increase my inspection frequency and I appreciate the advice.
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I totally agree with @Tim_Purdie about more regular FULL inspections of you hive. I do them every two weeks but when I’m too busy it might stretch to 3 weeks. Your climate dictates a double brood box hive and the bottom boxes health is just as important as any other box. Maybe more so as any returning bee enters the hive at the bottom box where the entrance is so is more vulnerable to be the point of entry of any nasties to the hive.
Cheers Brian
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