Hive inspection log

Whether you saw the queen or eggs, the brood pattern, honey and pollen stores, how many frames are covered with bees, queen cells, temper and what you did. Add a mite count at least monthly in the season. Those few notes show at a glance whether a colony is building, failing or about to swarm.

Most often during spring buildup and swarm season, when queen cells can appear between two visits; less often in a summer dearth, when opening hives invites robbing; none once the winter cluster forms. Wait for a calm day over 55 °F (13 °C) with bees flying, the threshold Utah State University Extension uses for a full inspection.

Many empty or mixed cells across a frame of capped brood point to a failing queen, inbreeding, a brood disease such as American or European foulbrood, or heavy varroa. Check capped cells for sunken, greasy or perforated cappings. If you suspect American foulbrood, call your state apiary inspector before moving any equipment.

The Honey Bee Health Coalition recommends regular monitoring through the season, with the most important counts in late summer, before the colony raises its winter bees. Its action threshold is 1 mite per 100 bees during dormancy and spring buildup, and 2 per 100 at peak population and in fall: 3 or 6 mites in a 300-bee wash.

No eggs or young larvae a week or more after the last time you saw them, a loud roar when you open the hive, emergency queen cells on the face of the comb, or laying workers with several eggs per cell. Give a frame of eggs from another hive: if the bees raise queen cells on it, they are queenless.

Whichever you will keep up. This log stays on your device, filters by hive and exports to CSV for a spreadsheet, and you can print it for an apiary inspector. Paper works too; what matters is noting the same things at every visit so you can compare.