Second Beehive Check: Honeybee Progress & What to Look For

Welcome back to another episode of Bee Wednesday! If you’ve been following along, we recently installed our new honeybee colonies, and today it’s time for our second official hive inspection. Regular hive checks are crucial, especially in the early weeks, to ensure the colony is thriving, building out comb, and—most importantly—rearing new generations of bees.

Let’s dive into what we found during this week’s check and what you should be looking for during your own inspections!

Prepping the Hive and Staying Calm

Before opening up the colony, it’s always important to fire up the smoker. A little bit of cool smoke helps calm the bees by disrupting their alarm pheromones, making the inspection much smoother for both you and “the girls.”

Working slowly and deliberately is key. Honeybees react to sudden movements, so keeping a calm mindset keeps them calm, too.

What to Look For During a Second Inspection

When pulling frames during your second week, you aren’t just looking for the queen herself—you are looking for evidence of her hard work. Here’s a quick checklist of what we assessed:

• Comb Building: Are the bees actively drawing out fresh wax comb on the foundation? They need this space to store food and for the queen to lay eggs.
• Food Stores: Look for glistening nectar, capped honey, and vibrant pollen packed into the cells. This ensures the colony has enough fuel to keep building.
• Eggs and Larvae: Seeing tiny, rice-like eggs or pearly white C-shaped larvae means your queen is present, active, and laying well.

Spotting the Queen

While you don’t always have to lay eyes on the queen if you see fresh eggs, it’s always an exciting moment when you spot her! During this inspection, we got a fantastic look at our queen moving across the frame, surrounded by her attentive worker bees. She looks healthy, elongated, and ready to expand this colony.

Watch the Full Inspection

Want to see exactly what a healthy brood looks like or watch the queen in action? Check out the full video below to follow along with the entire hive check:

Are you thinking about starting your own backyard beekeeping journey, or are you a seasoned keeper? Let me know how your hives are doing in the comments below!

Happy Beekeeping!