Are Conditions Right to Inspect the Hive?
When is the best time of day to inspect your hives? Does the weather play a part in inspections?
I have been keeping bees for four years now. I have been home all day and able to inspect anytime I pleased. That changed this year and having a new schedule in life and crazy weather patterns (LOTS of rain!) is making it difficult to inspect my hives.
I find myself looking at the weather several times a day, trying to figure out how I can arrange my work schedule so I can be home when the conditions are cooperative. I feel like I am learning “The Right Conditions for Inspections” all over again.
There is something a bit dismaying about pulling the top off a hive and having a mob of angry bees swirl up in your face. Cool weather and cloudy /rainy weather can cause this.
Not a good day for hive inspections.
I think the bees can sense a change in the weather. I have learned to pay attention to the sound of a hive. If the sound changes from a peaceful hum and everyone going about their business to an angry roar, it could be because of a change in the weather. I have been inspecting a hive and it clouded up real fast. The reaction of those bees made me throw down my hive tool and run.
When I started keeping bees, I read up on what time of day and under what weather conditions to inspect the hives.
This is what I found:
- Inspect your hives anytime it is warm enough and the sun is shining. The bees are not too active outside the hive at temps below 57 degrees The warm sunshine is going to get them out and about.
- Inspect your hives between the hours of 11:00 to 2:00. The worker bees will be out foraging so you won’t have as many to contend with.
- Inspect whenever you have time and the sun is shining. (Make sure it’s warm enough!)
- Do not inspect when it is raining. (Rain keeps everyone at home and puts the girls on edge?)
- Do not inspect when it is cloudy. (Cloudy weather seems to make the girls ill-tempered.)
- Try to avoid windy conditions (Causes the girls to drift into other hives.)
- You can inspect while the sun is shining until it gets dark. (Then the girls may not be so nice about you visiting so late.)
These are my favorite conditions for hive inspecting. (Utopia!)
- Sunshine
- Few clouds, definitely not overcast or rain clouds
- I like to get started early in the mornings after the clouds have dissipated and the dew is still on the ground. Somewhere around 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. after working in the garden.
- The temps should be in the mid to upper 60’s or warmer.
- I like a gentle breeze, not windy conditions.
It looks like my reality will now be inspections after work (after 5:00 p.m.) and the weekends when conditions are appropriate. It will definitely be an adjustment for me but, I love keeping bees and will work with the bees and the weather to do what needs to be done.
9 Comments
Thank you I have copied some of your items and have read them over until I have no more. I come back to read more about bee’s and I still must be doing some wrong. Buy thank you for a great job training people to keep BEE’s
Cecil
Thank you for publishing this! I am a new beehaver and was looking for this exact information–when to work the bees. No wonder they were so agitated the last time…
Thanks again,
William
William,
I think Beehavers just “have” bee’s and don’t really tend to them. You sound to me like a new “Beekeeper”. Hang in there. This is my first year too. I couldn’t have imagined all the adventures I was going to have… and it is only early June! lol. Good luck. Enjoy!
I hear you on the don’t inspect on a cloudy day rule, just got stung three times through my suit somehow. They got really angry very quickly.
We are newbies at be keeping and need as much info as possible. Thank you!
It has been close to 100 for several days, and the days that are cooler (70 – 80) are quite overcast or it is raining.
Out of those days – are the sunny, but in the 90 – 100 range okay to work with the ladies?? I don’t want to make them upset, and swarm.
Thanks for your advice
Harvesting honey can be a very local thing. Your list is a great guide and a good start. However people still need to “Listen” to their bees and answer accordingly. Living where I do on the subtropical coast in southern Queensland in Australia we can harvest all year round – OK not as much in the winter as the summer but we have species that flowers autumn through to almost spring Only August and part of September do we leave them alone. Another thing we have to content with is heat. Our summer days can run to mid to high 30s*C (90-102*F) when wearing a suit is totally unbearable so I aim for working in temperatures below 30*C(86*F) and on hot days means working the hives from 6-9am and 4-6pm. In our winter months I tend to keep to 10am-2pm
Thanks so much for the information, especially when to inspect the bee’s and good luck with your new times your going to have to inspect. Thanks
Great article thanks for this.
I was reading to see when was best to go and speak to the girls today, luckily although being over clouded the temp ramped up from 15 deg C to 17. They kept their peaceful hum whilst I was navigating the frames – although there were some moments that they ramped up the “oi, you’re pushing your luck here” tune…
The girls I have are very good much a good tempered bunch, and they’ve only been in the hive a few days (from a nuc) but there is some drama going on I need to sort out and am having to pick my times carefully.
You are very much right about the change of their humm you cannot go far wrong seeing what sort of mood they are in with this!