Inspecting my beehives…

May 4, 2011

Went out to the bee farm this past weekend to check on the status of my hives. Here are a couple of shots of me going through my brood boxes (I have 4) to look for my queens.

Beehive frames

Beehive frames
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Here is a shot of one of the brood boxes. After about 2 months, they've managed to build comb and lay brood on about 4 frames. It shouldn't take them much longer to get to the 8th or 9th frame, at which time I'll put on a honey super.

Leslie inspecting her beehive brood box

Leslie inspecting her beehive brood box
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Here's me opening up another of the brood boxes. While the hat and netting are a must, I think I'll be losing the gloves pretty soon. They are just too cumbersome, especially when trying to pick up the heavy brood frames gently so you don't drop them.

Now I'm checking each frame to look for the queen. At this stage you want to make sure the queen is healthy and laying brood properly. Unfortunately, one of my hives was missing their queen. Something either happened to her due to weather or health, or the hive killed her. They were already raising multiple new queen cells, which is bad news. So all the new queen cells will have to be killed and a new queen introduced to the hive this week.

Checking a frame for the queen

Checking a frame for the queen
PC: Leslie F. Halleck

Back to top

Tips in your inbox

E-Newsletter

Sign up for my monthly E-Newsletter for botanical business news, horticulture courses, and tidbits for plant and gardening lovers!