First Hive Inspection and Removing the Queen Cage

mchrisrogers
May 30, 2017
3 min read

I installed my bees on May 11th, so by the 19th I figured it would be a good time to check on the bees and remove the queen cage. I looked all over the internet on how and when to remove the queen cage, but no one mentioned it. Not sure if I looked in the wrong places for the information. You do have to remove the queen cage or the bees will start building comb all around it. I will go into that detail more in a little bit. The bees all seemed to be doing well. There was plenty of activity in and out of the hive and I could see a few bees bringing pollen in.

I have a top feeder on the hive, but did not like the way many bees were drowning even with the protective grid, so I added an additional feeder for the sugar syrup.

I was nervous to open the hive for the first time, which I guess is normal. I lightly smoked the entrance and down inside the hive when I removed the top and all seemed peaceful and calm.

You can see the rubber band holding the queen cage to the frame. I want to remove that and the queen cage before the bees build around it. Not one of the videos I watched on YouTube or my books mentioned this for some reason.

My husband cut the rubber band and I gently pried the cage from the frame with my hive tool. Already, the bees had a little bit of comb around it. It came right off and the bees did not mind at all. I looked for the queen, but did not see her, and gently put the frame back without hurting any bees.

Empty queen cage.

That was it for the first inspection. All looked good and they were pulling comb. I recorded my first observations, what I did, and the flowers in bloom in a notebook.

Second Inspection (2 1/2 weeks after installation):

A week or so later I decided to do another inspection. It was a cool morning, and perfect time to check up on the bees progress.

When I opened the hive they were really building up the comb. There was a little excess coming up into the feeder that I cut off with the hive tool. I will make some lip balm with it. I have so many recipes and will post that at a later time.

I pried out one of the frames about two frames away from the center to look for eggs. There was Empress Josephine!!! My husband spotted her. Her abdomen was longer than the others although she was not much larger. She looked like she was going along and looking for cells to lay her eggs in. I carefully put the frame back. I should have looked for eggs, but did not. I was too excited seeing the queen.

I will do another check in a week or so. I did feel it necessary to put the queen excluder on top of the brood box and add an additional super with frames. The bees had built up quite a bit of comb and I know that June is a very big month for flowers on our farm. I figured they would be busy gathering nectar and producing honey and will need the extra space. I do not want them to feel they do not have enough room and swarm. Wild roses, red clover, peonies, poppies, dames rocket, irises, lilacs, beauty bush, spirea, dogwoods, are just a few of the flowers, trees and shrubs that bloom on my property in June.

I did remember to look for varroa mites, but did not see any. I cleaned the grid, sprayed cooking spray on it and will check again soon. I made up a "Hive inspection Report" sheet to record my observations and actions. I will fill it out each time I check my hive.

HIVE INSPECTION REPORT

DATE/TIME/TEMP:

BROOD BOXES/HONEY SUPERS:

TEMPERAMENT OF BEES:

BROOD PATTERN & HEALTH:

GENERAL POPULATION:

QUEEN :

DISEASE/PESTS:

HONEY & POLLEN STORES:

ACTIONS:

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

FLOWERS BLOOMING: