My hobby beekeeper weight test in winter is two arm or one arm lift at the
back of the hive. If it takes two to tilt it up they are still fine, and if
it takes only one it is time to start feeding.I also check them by putting
my ear to the side of the hive to hear the reassuring hum.

Two essential pieces of equipment for a hobby beekeeper are a stool
(plastic from Walmart runs less than $10 and can stay out all year) and
some old carpet.

The stool is obvious- a place to sit by the entrance and watch what is
going on. As Charles noted, you can learn a lot without ever opening the
hive. Plus it can act as a rest for boxes when examining colonies.

The  carpet (I use the my car's back seat floor carpet that I replace every
couple of years on top of the larger front seat carpet) as a tell that I
put on the ground right below the hive entrance. Just about everything that
comes out of the hive ends up on it. You can tell a lot from hive debris,
including the state of the dead bees thrown out of the hive. I check it out
then shake off the bodies and parts and it is clean and ready to tell me
the next chapter in the hive's life.

I like to keep my number of colonies at two or three so the tools are
excellent for comparison. Easy to check when  I am around them, plus it
avoids a lot of heavy lifting.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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