What to look for when inspecting your bee hives, and things to watch out for.

5. Give a couple puffs of smoke at entrance and wait.
Do not stand in front of entrance.

6. What should we be looking for when we begin to
work the hive?
First, a beekeeper’s job is to do the least amount of
damage to the bees.
Remove boxes with twisting motion.
Start by pulling outside
frame.
Hold frames over hive.

9. A hive should not be open any longer than necessary
to do an inspection.
You are looking for things that are not normal.
As you gain experience, this will become easier. Hold
the frame so that the sun is reaching the frame from
over your shoulder.
Don't rush—slow and smooth
movements are less likely to
aggravate the bees.

10. You should see:
A good population of honey bees.
Eggs, larvae, and capped brood.
Honey and pollen.

13. This frame from the brood chamber is close to ideal.
Honey is stored at the
top of the frame
Capped brood fills
much of the rest of
the frame.

15. Poor
laying
pattern
Good brood
pattern

16. Frames with a
spotty brood
pattern

17. If the queen has no empty cells in which to lay eggs, the
hive is “honey-bound.”

18. It's not necessary to find the queen each time we open the hive.
We can tell that she is present if you can see eggs in cells.

19. A check list:
Is the queen present and do you see all stages of
brood development for worker bees?
Are the bees bringing in pollen and nectar?
Is the bee population growing?
Are the bees building new comb?
Is it time to add another brood box or put on a honey
super?
Is there anything unusual you notice?

20. Self-spacing frames
Do not allow excessive gaps that will allow burr
and bridge comb.

28. Queen
Cups
Beginning of queen cells
Not uncommon to see
Built “just in case”
Often dry—look to see if egg
and royal jelly inside

32. Your bees have varroa mites . . .

36. Sm all Hive Beet le (SHB)

37. SHB Larvae

38. Wax Mot hs
Strong hives will kill wax
moths and their larva.
Freezing frames for 48
hours will kill eggs—
after winter arrives your
frames should be safe
until spring.

39. Wax moth larvae feed on the comb.
Storage of honey supers is critical.

41. Am eric an Foulbrood Sym pt om s
Cappings will appear sunken, perforated, discolored, or
greasy.
Very foul odor.
Brood pattern will be scattered and spotty.
The contents of the cells
will be a ropey goo.

45. European Foulbrood (EFB)
Sym pt om s
May have a sour odor
Dead uncapped brood
Cells will not be ropey
Larva may appear
tan or brown

46. Two Strains:
●
Nosema Apis
●
Nosema Ceranae
Signs for both the same, but the new strain doesn't respond to
treatment.
Nosema

47. Nosem a Sym pt om s
 Spring colonies build up slowly or not at all.
 Bees appear weak and may crawl aimlessly around the
front of the hive.
 The hive has a characteristic spotting. Mustard-brown
feces may appear on or around the hive.

48. Chalk brood
 A Common fungal disease that affects the larva.
 Passed to larva by direct contact or eating
contaminated food.
 Fungus germinates and invades the gut and
competes for nutrients.
 If the larva dies, the fungus invades the body and
forms sporulating bodies that propagate the
pathogen.
 Most common in damp conditions.

49. Sac brood
 Sacbrood is a viral disease of the
blood. Similar to the common
cold.
 This is a rare disease and will
probably clear up on it’s own.
 Larva will appear grayish to
black.
 Skin has a watery, sack-like
appearance.
 There is no approved chemical
treatment.

50. http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/PDFs/AGRS116.pdf