State of a hive in the spring?

[Nakedapiarist]

So I'm resisting temptation to open the hives and I think they're ok for stores judging by the weight but I'm wondering what - assuming the colonies survive - the state of a hive tends to be in the spring?

My bees are little so and sos for building brace comb and propolising everything down ( apparently no one told them about bee space ). Is the first spring inspection a long session of levering things apart with the hive tool and scraping wax and propolis off everything?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I've found it not too bad on the whole - a bit of scraping here and there after finally getting the crown board off and all is fine. We'll probably get some on here wittering about a big spring clean but I've never seen this necessary (even Manley saw the need to ridicule this in his book 'Beekeeping in Britain' written in 1948!!) - you may find the odd colony will have a bit of crud built up on the OMF, but I just lift the brood box off it, shake the rubbish off and put it back in place again

 

[B+.]

So I'm resisting temptation to open the hives and I think they're ok for stores judging by the weight but I'm wondering what - assuming the colonies survive - the state of a hive tends to be in the spring?

My bees are little so and sos for building brace comb and propolising everything down ( apparently no one told them about bee space ). Is the first spring inspection a long session of levering things apart with the hive tool and scraping wax and propolis off everything?

That depends on when you do it.
Spring can be cold and wet....propolis is brittle when cold but soft and sticky when warm. Making a lot of noise when pulling it apart is likely to upset them a bit.
I usually start with natural mite drops in early spring (preferably before any serious pollen starts coming in and they start rearing large areas of brood). By mid-late March, there is usually some decent weather when you can do first inspections. I don't mean, long..inspect every comb sort of inspections as the brood can easily chill. Just get in and do what you have to do, then, close them up and leave them alone again
If you think they have lots of brace comb, I'd suggest that you clean it up before the population gets too big, but, don't go mad and remove brace comb with honey in that they might still eat.

 

[enrico]

It is usually the quietest inspection you will make. They are like little kids.
E

 

[domino]

The only time I've ever had an issue was when I left broad and a half on. Which, to be fair, I deserved.

 

[pargyle]

I think you will find that it looks worse than it is. There is usually brace comb at the top of my hives where they seem to like to bridge the frames in preparation for winter and they certainly stick the crownboard well down with propolis but, once you have got that off, it's normally just a case of sliding your hive tool or a knife down between the top inch or so of the frames to separate the brace comb before you start to lift them out. There's not usually much left in this brace comb (indeed, mine don't seem to put anything in it .. they just seem to enjoy building it !) so it's not messy. I keep a deepish tray alongside for the inspections and if the brace comb needs trimming then I just cut it back to the frame width.

I scrape off the worst of the propolis at subsequent inspections and keep that separate to make propolis varnish.

I never spend a huge amount of time on the first inspection - it really should be a quick look through to see whether the queen is laying and how the brood is building, any signs of disease and whether they have stores/room for the queen to lay. The bees are usually fairly quiet after winter and it's an easy task - good time to take any nadired boxes off and if you are into floor cleaning (I'm not !) then a 'new' floor to lift the brood box onto is a good idea.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I usually just clean up the comb they build between the top bars and the crown board, check for brood and often mark queens while they are easy to find.

 

[Swarm]

As above, everything is easier because there's less bees, take extra care separating the frames which can sometimes seem welded together, so that nothing moves suddenly. I don't remove much brace unless I have too because they only replace it.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

As above, everything is easier because there's less bees, take extra care separating the frames which can sometimes seem welded together, so that nothing moves suddenly.

early on in the season the end frames will be unoccupied, so I lever those out of the way, you can then lever the remaining frames apart and slide them along with little disturbance to the bees - I find a 'J' tool an ideal lever for this job

 

[Cazza]

Ditto
Cazza

 

[BeeJayBee]

We'll probably get some on here wittering about a big spring clean but I've never seen this necessary (even Manley saw the need to ridicule this in his book 'Beekeeping in Britain' written in 1948!!)

I never spend a huge amount of time on the first inspection -

No need to make a big thing of this 'first inspection', because it should be the same as any other inspection, although the beekeeper may be a bit rusty because of the winter lay-off.

Check there is a laying queen, the brood pattern, and any colony health. Check the queen has space to lay and the colony has enough stores to last until the next inspection. Then go away and plan for the coming weeks.

Probably the most important thing is not to open the hives too early, not be too eager to open the hives just because somebody on the internet says you should. It should be warm enough for the bees to be flying strongly, and for the majority of humans to have cast off their thick winter woollies. It's often best to keep an eye on local plants too, some of local beekeepers reckon that if it's too cold for pussy willow to flower it's guaranteed to be too cold to inspect a colony of bees.