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Yes, I know those "do nothing guys".
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Finski.. I didn't say that I do nothing. I was saying that I reduced the frequency of my brood nest inspections to about 4 times per year. Spring, pre-flow, post-flow and pre-winter. Any thing else is supering or checking stores.
Most other information can be gathered externally.
At least that works for me, so far.
about 4 times per year is almost nothing
It depends on summer, what works for me. If weathers are bad, bees tend to swarm
If summer is good, take several times honey off and extract.
If you do not inspect your hives, what ever can happen
During swarming season inspection is needed every week, do they are going to swarm...
Why 10 days interwall is not enough.... because the last days may be rainy and you cannot open the hives
My inspections
- winter shelter off and shovel snow off that bees can make cleansing flight
- theft the hive, do it has food enough. If not, open the cover an do you see capped food. If not feed the hive.
- Is the queen present and does it make normal worker brood.
- Closer looking, amount of food (warm weathers)
- The colony size. Hives have met losses. Cluster are smaller than in autumn. Do they need joining?
Do they need less room, dummy board of mire frames to nuc.
- In May when brooding is going well: diseases, is the brooding normal (nosema problem) is the brooding as good as it ought be . Best hives to brood (breeding material)
- Condition of frames: too old off, moulded, mouse beaten, too much winter food, too less winter food
- When dandelion and apple trees are in bloom: need of new boxes
- Need of first supers for honey
- Swarming control every week
- More room: colony exploses and at same time first sings ow swarming
- making false swarms
- giving more super and following honey amount
- Amount of brood: how fast that colony is going to expand
- Making hives ready to move out pastures....how to collect a productive unit
- honey coming in, need of new supers,
- swarming intentions; heavy nectar flow may start the swarming
and so on....Trouble makes need more inspections
Others
- cutting drone cells off
- change the queen
- moving honey frames to supers
- give foundations to draw
- take brood to nucs
- give a new queen and after inspect that it lays well
- take all honey off for winter feeding
- collect brood frames to lowest box.
- arrange the wintering frames so that pollen frames do not get mould
- make hives ready to collect home yard
- feed the colonies
- weigh the hives with balance
- put them ready for winter
- change the last queens
- join last mating nuc bees
- join nucs so that they are big enough for winter
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Mating nucs...
- rear first gang of new queens
- put mating nucs ready
- move them to outer yards
and so on...