Hello All,
 
 I have noticed the posts lately about hive inspection for Varroa.
  I would like to go futher into hive inspection. More of a Bee behavior
observation. We all start with a hive and maybe a book. Then we start to
look into the hive and see what is going on in there. It looks like Greek
to most of us , bees walking around and maybe some eggs and larva. We see
the queen and that makes us happy and egar to see how our hive will expand
with this queen.
 Lets look at what problems we have at the get go. We are human and have a
bias by the way we look at nature.You need to understand a little about
how nature is balanced. If there is plenty of nectar and pollen the hive
will expand with a good queen. Your ears are as important as your eyes
when you are looking at a hive.If you look for a queen because of the lack
of any eggs , listen to the sound that the bees make. Don't ever foreget
that sound. It will save you a lot of time in the future. When you lift
the lid you will know if the hive is queenless.
 When you look at your bees on a frame, notice how they walk and stand.
They should be upright on there legs and not wobble on there leggs when
they walk.You have to know what healthy Bees look like and how they act
when you open them up. There is only one way to this, you have to pay
attention to your bees. You must look at them and ask questions to
yourself of what you see and hear. I had my hives open all the time for
the first 2 years. The book says , don't disturb your bees very much. Well
I blew that one big time. I had to learn what was going on in the hive.I
did learn how to move slow and not open them up in bad weather.
 Now for over 30 years I have been learning more all the time. Bee
behavior is very complex. You don't need to feel like you need a PhD. to
know and enjoy your bees.You can do many things to expand your knowledge
on honey bees. This list is very usefull. When I lost 50 of 80 of my hives
2 years ago to Varroa. I knew what I was going to do. I asked questions
and found out what researchers were working on what , in regards to the
mite. I did know that my bees died with more than one pathogen. I found
out who was woking with Viruses and asked them questions. My bees died
very fast , in fact some went down in 3 days. My mite count was not high
enough to cause that to happen. ( 5 mites in 100 bees with an either roll
)
  No mites now on my bees and they are the strongest populations that I
have ever had at this time of the year. I did evrything that I could think
of in the fall to get them ready for winter. I lost 1 out of 50 do to the
queen kept on laying during the winter.
 Since we cover the world with this list, we need to do the right thing
for where we live. The enviornment is very important on how the bees
behave.The important part is to be open to your bees and let them show you
what they want. Don't go against them , because they will always win.You
need to learn what they need and give it to them. When you see white comb
on the top of the frames give them supers. You already lost some honey by
leting them pull out new wax on old comb.
 To all the newbees , don't worry , we started at the same place. Look at
them as a very important part of a bigger picture. We owe a lot to our
bees. That is why we all need to pass on the word of how important they
are to all of nature.We are doing a service by keeping bees. They are
doing a service to us , showing us how wonderful and complex nature is to
all of us. Ask questions and try to understand the bee from her
prospective. Enjoy what we have been given to care for.We all have a lot
to learn from the Honey Bee.
 
 Best Regards
 Roy