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Beekeeping in Northern Climates <br />INSPECTIONS <br />1HZO\KLYHGFRORQLHVVKRXOGQRWEHGLVWXUEHGXQQHFHVVDULO\8VHVPRNHGXULQJHDFKLQVSHFWLRQDQGDOZD\V <br />move slowly and smoothly. <br /><RXZLOOQHHGWRFKHFN\RXUEHHVHYHU\GD\VLQVSULQJDQGHDUO\VXPPHUDQGVLPLODUO\LQODWHVXPPHU <br /> PLG$XJXVWWR2FWREHU 'XULQJWKHVXPPHUPRQWKV\RXFDQFKHFNWKHPOHVVIUHTXHQWO\ <br />Spring Inspections <br />:KLOHEHHVDUHGUDZLQJFRPEKHUHLV\RXUFKHFNOLVWIRUKLYHLQVSHFWLRQV <br />Ɣ &KHFNEHHVDQGEURRGHYHU\GD\V,I\RXVHHHJJVLWLVQRWQHFHVVDU\WRVHHWKHTXHHQVLQFH <br />eggs mean she is present. <br />Ɣ /RRNIRUXQVHDOHGDQGVHDOHGEURRG&KHFNIRUGLVHDVHG QRWKHDOWK\ EURRG <br />Ɣ 7KHQXPEHURIEHHVZLOOGZLQGOHIRUWKH¿UVWGD\VDIWHUKLYLQJDSDFNDJHXQWLOQHZZRUNHUVHPHUJH <br />A nuc will have less bee loss since older bees will be replaced with young bees that emerge from the <br />brood. <br />Ɣ /RRNIRUVWRUHGIRRG3ROOHQFDQEHYDULRXVFRORUVEDVHGRQWKHÀRUDOVRXUFH)UHVKSROOHQZLOOKDYHD <br />VKLQ\ORRNZKLOHROGHUSROOHQZLOOORRNGXOOHU%HHVWHQGWRFRQVXPHWKHIUHVKHUSROOHQ¿UVW1HFWDULV <br />VKLQ\DQGFOHDULQWKHFRPE8QOLNHKRQH\LWGRHVQRWKDYHDZD[FDS+RQH\LVQHFWDUWKDWKDVEHHQ <br />GHK\GUDWHGGRZQE\WKHEHHVWRPRLVWXUHWRSUHYHQWIHUPHQWDWLRQ2QFHWKHQHFWDULVGULHG <br />RXWWKHEHHVSXWDZD[FDSRYHUWKHFHOOOLNHSXWWLQJDOLGRQDMDUDOWKRXJKLQWKLVFDVHWKHZD[FDSLV <br />porous. <br />Ɣ /RRNIRUWKHSUHVHQFHRIGURQHEURRG7KHSURGXFWLRQRIGURQHEURRGPHDQVWKDWWKHFRORQ\KDV <br />enough resources to spend on these relatively expensive bees and is a good sign that the colony is <br />KHDOWK\$SURVSHULQJVXPPHUFRORQ\ZLOOEHDURXQGGURQHV$QH[FHVVRIGURQHVFDQPHDQWKDW <br />WKHUHLVDQLVVXHZLWKWKHTXHHQ HLWKHUVKHLVIDLOLQJWROD\IHUWLOL]HG IHPDOH HJJVRULVQRWSUHVHQWLQ <br />WKHFRORQ\  <br />Ɣ /RRNIRUTXHHQFHOOV,WLVXQOLNHO\WKDWDFRORQ\VWDUWHGIURPSDFNDJHRUQXFZLOOVZDUPEXWLWLV <br />possible. Bees swarm when they run out of room to grow in a hive. If a colony has many frames of <br />foundation and little drawn comb, the bees may perceive that there is no room to grow, and may swarm. <br />It is important to feed sugar syrup to help the bees produce wax, and to ensure they have ample combs <br />to grow their population. <br />ƔIf you see queen cells and suspect your colony might be trying to swarm, see the section called <br />“Swarms” to learn about swarm management. <br />ƔAnother reason you might see queen cells is if the colony is trying to replace or supersede the queen <br /> VHHWKHVHFWLRQFDOOHG³4XHHQ&HOOV´IRUPRUHLQIRUPDWLRQ 'RQRWUHPRYHWKHTXHHQFHOOV7KHEHHV <br />NQRZPRUHWKDQWKHEHHNHHSHUVRLWLVEHVWWRUHVSHFWWKHLUGHFLVLRQWRUDLVHDQHZTXHHQ6WXG\XSRQ <br />KRZORQJLWZLOOWDNHEHIRUH\RXFDQH[SHFWDQHZOD\LQJTXHHQWREHSUHVHQWLQWKHFRORQ\ VHH)LJXUH <br />  <br />Ɣ ,I\RXVHHTXHHQFHOOVDQGQRHJJVLQWKHFRPEVLWPHDQVWKHFRORQ\KDVQRTXHHQ VKHZDVOLNHO\ <br />NLOOHGLQDGYHUWHQWO\GXULQJDSUHYLRXVLQVSHFWLRQ $JDLQGRQRWUHPRYHWKHTXHHQFHOOV7KHEHHVDUH <br />WU\LQJWRUHSODFHWKHTXHHQDQGWKH\NQRZH[DFWO\ZKDWWRGR/HDYHWKHPEH6WXG\XSRQKRZORQJLW <br />ZLOOWDNHEHIRUHDQHZOD\LQJTXHHQZLOOEHSUHVHQWLQWKHFRORQ\ VHH)LJXUH  <br />ƔRefer to Appendix B on troubleshooting queen problems for additional information about queen cells <br />DQG¿QGLQJHJJV <br />YEAR ONE: SPRING AND <br />SUMMER MANAGEMENT