# inspection checklist



## mgmoore7 (Jul 6, 2007)

I use a record sheet that is a guide to what to look for. Eventually, it will become 2nd nature. You are welcome to use mine or modify it to your liking. A pdf and Excel version can be found on the page below.

http://www.moorehoneybees.com/downloads.html


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## Countryboy (Feb 15, 2009)

What do you want to use the records for? Plan accordingly.

My inspection checklist is a mental one. Are bees bringing in pollen? Are there eggs/larva? Are there swarm/supercedure cells? Does the queen have room to lay, or is the broodnest crowded and need opened up? Do the bees have room to store honey? Are there any signs of disease? Does everything seem ok in general?

My notes are just what I need to bring the next time I am there. Even when it is my homeyard, I don't want to have to keep making trips back to the shed for more supers or frames or nucs boxes or pollen patties or... 
(And these notes won't do me much good months from now.)


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## Specialkayme (Sep 4, 2005)

I'm not really too sure if I'm submitting this in the proper area, but I was wondering along with your inspection checklist how long your inspections take? Do you just look for eggs and move on, or do you always look for a queen? How often do you inspect?

When taking a beekeeping course many years ago, the experienced beekeeper told me that it takes 10 days for the hive to requeen themselves, and it's important to catch them before they get to that point. As such, he told me on average you should check up on the hive AT LEAST every 9 days during the spring. That means going through each hive, frame by frame once a week.

This has become very problematic for me, and I think it's stressing out the bees. I think I should be checking on them less often, but when I do they tend to swarm more often.

All I can think about is it takes me an hour or two once a week to go through 3-4 hives. I know I'm taking too long, but I'm doing what I was taught. I simply don't know how someone would be able to operate 500+ hives.

Any thoughts?


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## mgmoore7 (Jul 6, 2007)

This year I have gone from 3-4 hives to 15. If I continued to inspect 15 hives like I did when I had just a few, it would take me 3-4 hours probably. 

Part of it is just learning what to look for and doing it without too much thought. I am inspecting my hives in about 2.5 hours. That includes setup time and visiting a remote yard about 10 minutes away. 

For me, inspecting hives anymore than every 2 weeks does not work with some exception such as when I am doing queens or during a heavy flow. I have too much going on to spend every other Sat morning inspecting hives. Some of this depends on the time of year as well. 

In most cases, I would say that I spend an average of 3-5 minutes on a hive and there is probably 30-45 min in prep and travel time.


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

When you first start out, you want to keep track of everything. That's good. It's how you learn and see relationships. Relationships between the bees and the flowers and the weather. Also how flows effect the bees and when flows are in your area. These are all things you need to know as a beekeeper. You learn how to be observant.

You also need to make observations at the colony level. Observations that might not make any sense now, but given time you find that there really is a method to the madness. And so you formulate a management scheme to fit.

I use a yard sheet to keep track of what I consider the most important traits or characters or performance levels of my bees. Make a list. What's important to you and your bees. Honey production? That's near the top. Temper? Wintering ability?

I originally used a yard sheet from Harry Laidlaw's book "Contemporary Queen Rearing." I modified it a bit, as his kept track of traits I'm not so concerned with. I just modified it again after several years, so it would fit my present breeding program...first printing here.

Top row is colony number. Each colony in the apiary has a number

Then queen information. I can track a colony for years...from the time I introduce the original queen, through sucessful supercedures, swarmings, and to the next re-queening.

Population is the strength of the colony...in bees...when I open the inner cover for the first time in the spring. That's how the cluster wintered...not springed!

Then when the colony was reversed, and.....

How the brood looked. I keep track of how many frames of brood (amt) there was when the colony was reversed...usually on Dandelions,...and the quality of the pattern (pat). I track that for 3 years on the sheet. This is how it springed!

Disease...I note any diseases present.

Chalkbrood...I like to keep close track of Chalkbrood as an indication of hygienic bees.

Varroa...the varroa count and date. _I forgot to add this line when I printed the new sheets._

Temper...Are they mean? Runny? Flighty?

Honey taken...for 3 years

Weight of hive about October 1...for 3 years

Configuration of colony


One example of a long term observation making sense in later years.....

The number of frames of brood at reversal time is directly proportional to the amount of honey produced by the colony. I see it time and again. It's the colonies that have 9 and 10 and 12 frames of brood at Dandelion that make the really big crops...provided they don't swarm. If the colony is split at reversal time, the honey crop goes down it relation to how many frames of brood were removed for the split. You begin to see relationships, and understand just how expensive split making can really be. And you see relationships between colonies within the yard and between the yards themselves.

Does this all make sense? So make a simple yard sheet that you can put in a folder or 3 ring binder.


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## brac (Sep 30, 2009)

Michael, could you explain "when the colony was reversed"


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Part of my yearly management is the reversal of the broodnest. I run 3 boxes for the broodnest. At Dandelion flow, I reverse the order of the top and bottom boxes. I inspect the broodnest at that time...the only real annual inspection for most colonies. Reversing helps with swarming by placing the empty comb space above the active cluster. The bees are able to move up, eliminating the pressure of incomming nectar being stored in the broodnest. It also places any leftover, often crystallized honey on the bottom...where the bees will dig it out and recycle it.


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

mgmoore7 said:


> I use a record sheet that is a guide to what to look for. Eventually, it will become 2nd nature. You are welcome to use mine or modify it to your liking. A pdf and Excel version can be found on the page below.
> 
> http://www.moorehoneybees.com/downloads.html


_Thank you for your patronage and interest. While I love beekeeping and the blessing that it has been to my family and I, sometimes we need to re-evaluate what is using our time and resources and determine if it still holds the same position of priority. With that in mind we decided that it was best to get out of beekeeping. _

Seems he is no longer doing bee keeping. I was going to check out his checklist. Anyone have a good in in word or xcel that can be printed and put on a clipboard. Seems our notes suck between my son and me.


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## bradley39482 (May 26, 2010)

frysl,
i keep a journal for my bee's, every time i do an inspection, i put it in my journal, any kind of observation i see on the outside or inside of the hive , i put in the journal. even what kind of tree's or plants they might be working at that time of month. this helps in determining the flow of nectar or pollen, pretty soon u will have a collection of observations you can put together in separate record book, such as , nectar flow for your area, time's of swarms habits, best month for pest invasion, super cells, etc.. pdf or spread sheets are good, but your own observation, and recording of your bee's is the best way, if u use some one else's recording sheet, they probably will have things in there u don't do, or don't need to do, u follow me? make it your own, your own observation's, records, you will have a better respect for it, and a sense of accomplishment, and when someone ask how your bee's are doing, u will have a sense of pride about your own records and knowledge.
just a thought.:thumbsup:


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