Second Inspection Checklist (primary goal: to see bees emerging)

Inside a Daydream

During our First Inspection we panicked and moved the Queen Includer to the honey storage area w/o first checking for brood. The next day, looking through the observation window, we saw yellow cappings! So in our Second Inspection, one of our objectives will be to check on that brood. We're wondering if any drones were laid here, since it's cooler on the periphery.

Contingency Plan:
We don't have one. PJ Chandler/The Barefoot Beekeeper says, "The time to make contingency plans, should something unexpected be found, is before you lift the lid." Makes perfect sense, except there's no way a beginner beekeeper can truly anticipate the unexpected.

Besides, from casual observation through the window everything's going well. The new combs are straight and growing by about an inch a day. There are no swarm or supercedure cells visible. The feeder is dropping steadily but doesn't need to be refilled just yet. The foragers are coming back with lots of pollen, so there must be lots of baby bees. Technically we don't have to go INTO the hive, but we're super curious to see bees emerging from their cells.

Weather permitting, our Second Inspection will occur in 3 days. The original package bees are dying off so the colony population is at its lowest. As beginners, it is our best bet for seeing cool stuff like bees being born or the queen laying eggs. The longer we wait, the more bees – and intimidating – it'll be.

Per Beekeeping for Dummies, we'll be evaluating Queen performance by analyzing her egg laying quantity and quality. Basically, we're looking for an egg in each cell and a centralized brood nest. There are 11 combs to inspect.

Checklist by Bar Position	Look For:
# 11 : newest comb	check alignment
# 10 : brood comb moved here	brood alive?
# 9 : new comb	Look for eggs, larvae or capped brood.
# 8 :	Look for egg, larvae, capped brood and food stores.
# 7–5	emerging bees?
# 4–3 : new combs	eggs? DON'T FORGET THE MAGNIFYING GLASS!
# 2	emerging bees?
# 1 : new comb	what are they using this for: brood or honey?

Secret Installation

A normal package install goes something like this:
1) take the feeding can out
2) hang the queen cage in the hive
3) knock the box on the ground, hard, then shake and pour the bees into the hive.

The problem with this method is that you end up with a cloud of confused bees, and new beekeepers are going to want to wear protective gear. Not exactly clandestine.

We are still keeping our bees a secret so we decided on a walk-away install:
1) same as above
2) same as above
3) No roughing up the bees. Just leave the package on top (like a super) so they can walk in on their own.

Well, the best laid plans...

Installing the Package

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Installation - Part II

No peeking inside for a week!

What to do after installing a Package	Feed as long as comb needs to be built.
Week 1	Leave them alone.
Week 2	Release the Queen if the bees didn't free her.
Week 3	Look for eggs and larvae. Move the falseback to stay ahead of the bees but keep 'em tight and building straight.
Weeks 4 and 5	Look for capped brood. Look for supercedure cells.
Week 6 through 8	Keep moving the falseback as necessary.
Continue to feed as long as the bees will take it.	Make sure they always have 2-4 bars to build on.

Spring To-Do's

Investigating the New Cover

Marty Hardison visited the BackyardHive Bee Club this month and spoke for the entire 2 hrs. Turns out he lives in the same town as us! He said our colony needs a new young queen. I don't know where to get one at this time of year, but I think a replacement's on the top of the girls' Spring To-Do List. They already started constructing queen cups. Marty calls the preliminary construction a Play Cup.

It was great to be able to ask someone with 28 years of TBH experience what to do. His Spring Management checklist is pretty simple.

Spring Management Checklist
1) Harvest or move the overwintered honey combs to the back.	The bees will eat their way toward the back as Winter progresses, leaving empty comb behind. They'll use these combs for brood rearing in the Spring, but if there's a surplus of capped honey (3+ combs) left at the end of Winter, the bees may feel crowded. With cold temperatures and the colony number being at its lowest, it's difficult for the bees to relocate the honey to make room for baby bees. It helps the bees to move the honey combs out of the way. The best action is to move them further back in the hive. This gives the bees space to expand the brood chamber but keeps the honey available if Spring turns cold. However, if warmth, moisture, flowers, nectar and sunshine abound, then take the honey out altogether; the bees won't eat it. It will be in the way at best and contribute to swarming at worst.
2) Take out the worst three of four brood combs (those that are misshapen or not well-centered).	The combs nearest the entrance should still be empty in January. By February, the queen may have started laying in these combs. Replace the culled combs with new bars between straight brood combs. This both "opens" the brood nest and ensures straight new comb.
3) Provide a ready supply of syrup (weekly)	to encourage the bees to build more combs and to raise more bees, ensuring the colony's success.