For any beekeeper, novice or experienced, opening a beehive creates in most cases some magic and is very enjoyable. The slower pace that needs to be adopted when around bees transitions the beekeeper in a much more relaxed space.
Whilst opening the hive helps the beekeeper to relax from the stress of daily modern life, it has the opposite effect on the bees. An intrusion into the bees' home increases their stress level and every time the hive is closed again they need hours, or sometimes days to recover. This does not help the bees' health and productivity.
Imagine someone would come to your house and search it through, emptying wardrobes, drawers, shelves etc., take some of your belongings away and then leave and let you clean up the mess they left behind. Once you have settled in again and everything is back to normal they come again for a new search, week after week.
Opening the Beehive should only be done under mild weather conditions — not too cold, not too hot and not too windy; i.e. when you would enjoy sitting outside with shorts and a T-shirt on. Try to avoid opening the hive when windy, in the rain, with a thunderstorm approaching or during a thunderstorm. Do not lift out brood frames when windy as a cold breeze can be fatal to young brood.
Remember: The brood nest temperature is always 34–35°C. Even brief exposure to cold air can chill brood fatally.
Provided the bees have sufficient food stores for winter in the hive, the bees should not be disturbed. Opening the hive during the cold season and inspecting frames for food is definitely not an option. Instead, simply lift the hive on one end for a weight check. A single box 8-frame hive should contain a minimum of five frames of honey; with an average net weight of 2.4 kg per frame this totals to 12 kg of honey. To be winter-ready a single-box hive should weigh approximately 24–30 kg.
Once we have decided it is necessary to open the beehive for inspection, being clear about the purpose of the hive inspection lets us focus on what we are going to look for. Otherwise chances are high that we get side-tracked by what we see and may forget what we came for. And it's so easy to get absorbed in the magic — it is like having an interesting conversation on the phone whilst driving a vehicle.
The reasons for opening the hive can vary, therefore all or only a subset of the inspection items listed below are applicable. Be clear in your mind what you want to look for before you start.
The following checks should become start-up routine whenever a hive is opened for inspection. None of these checks require a frame to be lifted out of the hive. The results of these routine checks might change the objective for the subsequent frame inspection.
Observe the hive entrance before opening. Are bees coming and going? Are they bringing in pollen? Is there fighting at the entrance (possible robbing)? Dead or dying bees at the entrance can be a sign of disease or pesticide exposure.
Lift the back of the hive slightly to assess food stores. A hive that feels light needs attention — particularly in late summer, autumn, and winter.
Before opening, listen to the bees. A calm, steady hum indicates a settled colony. An agitated, higher-pitched buzz may signal queenlessness or disturbance.
After having removed the lid and the hive mat, gently blow some smoke from the top down the frames. Listen to the sound of the bees buzzing — it is usually a calm buzz; familiarise yourself with that sound. When one day the buzz sounds nervous, noisier and a pitch higher than the calm buzz, it is very likely the colony is without a queen. As a hobby beekeeper with one or two hives it might take many years before you experience the situation of a queenless hive. To confirm the prognosis, search for the queen or evidence of her, i.e. eggs and young larvae.
When lifting up the lid has revealed combs built under the lid, it is a clear sign that the bees need more space to build combs. Whatever your reason was for the hive inspection, add an urgent action item to provide them with more space — i.e. replace some honey frames with foundation, or stack a super on with frames and foundation.
The frame inspection is where you observe the state of the colony in detail. Work calmly and methodically, one frame at a time. Always return frames in the same order and orientation as you found them.
Look for the queen — she is larger, with a longer abdomen. If marked, she is easier to find. If you cannot find her, look for evidence of her presence: freshly laid eggs (tiny white grains standing upright in cells), young larvae in a consistent pattern, and a calm colony demeanour.
Fresh eggs confirm the queen was present within the last three days. Eggs that look like thin grains of rice, standing upright, are less than 24 hours old. This is one of the most important checks — no eggs is an early sign of queenlessness.
A healthy brood pattern is compact and consistent — most cells filled with brood at the same stage. A scattered, irregular pattern may indicate disease, a failing queen, or laying workers.
Healthy capped worker brood has slightly domed, uniform cappings in a warm tan or biscuit colour. Sunken, perforated, or discoloured cappings can indicate disease (American foulbrood, sacbrood) and should be investigated carefully.
Check that the colony has adequate honey and pollen stores. Frames of capped honey around the brood nest are a good sign. In late summer and autumn, assess whether stores are sufficient for winter.
Look for queen cells on the face and bottom edges of frames. Queen cells indicate the colony is preparing to swarm or supersede the queen. The appropriate action depends on the time of year and the beekeeper's goals.
Are the bees filling all available space? Bees that are crowded into a hive without room to build are preparing to swarm. If frames are being filled rapidly, add a super or replace honey frames with foundation.
Look for signs of Varroa mite (reddish-brown specks on adult bees or in brood cells), Small Hive Beetle (dark brown beetles or larvae), American foulbrood (brown, sunken, ropey cappings with a distinctive foul smell), or other issues. Report notifiable diseases to Agriculture Victoria immediately.
Note the temperament of the colony during the inspection. A colony that becomes unusually defensive may be queenless, under stress, or preparing to swarm.
To assist other beekeepers, keep written records of every inspection — date, weather conditions, colony state, queen status, food stores, any issues observed, and actions taken. These records are invaluable for identifying trends and planning management over time.
If after studying the signs you are still uncertain about what you have found, ask a more experienced beekeeper for assistance. By all means, get certainty about what the problem is before acting.
Content originally written by Dietmar Klimkeit, Amazing Bees (amazingbees.com.au), Melbourne, Australia. Preserved and maintained by Laszlo Kun, BeesFriend as a knowledge-sharing legacy in Dietmar's memory.