Your first inspection

It's a sunny day in mid June, just before noon. Anne has her veil on, her smoker giving off cool white smoke, and her hive tool in her pocket. For the first time, she is going to go all the way down through the hive, frame by frame. What should she actually do?

Start with timing. Extension guidance says to work bees around midday, in sunshine, ideally while nectar is flowing, when many foragers are out and the colony is calm. Avoid late afternoons, and times when a thunderstorm is coming, when bees get defensive.

In spring, Ontario guidance adds a temperature rule. Until days are steadily around fifteen degrees Celsius and pollen has been coming in for a few weeks, don't pull the brood nest apart. On a cooler sunny day, just check that the colony is alive, and heft the back of the hive to judge its food. Never break into a clustered colony.

Now the inspection itself. Give a little smoke at the entrance, wait a moment, then lift the lid and give a little smoke under it. Keep every movement slow and smooth.

Loosen each frame with your hive tool, then lift it with both hands, straight up. Don't twist it or roll it against its neighbours. Twisting crushes bees, and crushed bees are what cause most stings. If you are stung, scrape the stinger out with a fingernail or your hive tool.

What are you looking for? Four things. Eggs and young larvae, which tell you there's a laying queen. A solid, compact pattern of capped brood. Enough food, at least two frames of honey. And anything unusual: queen cells, patchy brood, or larvae that aren't pearly white.

Notice the mood of the colony too. A healthy colony is busy but calm, with a steady hum. A colony that boils out of the box and follows you across the yard every time is telling you something. The Ontario Beekeepers' Association advises requeening colonies that are highly defensive, and we'll cover how in the lecture on queens.

To see the brood clearly, shake most of the bees off the frame, back into the open hive. But make sure the queen isn't on that frame first. If you spot her, the Ontario Beekeepers' Association suggests setting her frame gently aside in an empty box, or caging her while you work, so she isn't injured.

When you're done, put the frames back as they were, replace the covers, and write a short note before you walk away.

Now let's change one fact. Suppose Anne finds no eggs and no young larvae anywhere. The queen is probably gone. Ontario guidance says to check every frame carefully for signs of American foulbrood first, and only then deal with the queen problem, for example by combining the bees with a healthy colony that has a queen.

The mistake beginners make is staying in the hive too long, hunting for the queen on every frame. Every extra stretch with the hive open disturbs the colony. Look for eggs, check the brood and the food, and put the hive back together.

Here is the rule, in one breath. Inspect around midday in sun, only open the brood nest once spring days are steadily about fifteen degrees, move slowly, lift frames straight up, look for eggs, solid brood, two frames of honey and anything unusual, and protect the queen while you work.

Next, how often to inspect, and what to write down.