Best practices for inspecting a bee colony

Objective
Collect reliable information without disturbing the colony.

What to observe at the entrance and through drawer analysis

• Intensity and regularity of flight activity
• Bees returning with pollen (strong indicator of open brood)
• General behaviour (calm, agitation, defensiveness)
• Crawling bees, deformed wings, excessive mortality
• Unusual odours
• Debris and residues observed on the drawer provide valuable information on colony dynamics and health.

Interpretation

In the vast majority of situations, careful observation already allows conclusions about:

• the likely presence of brood,
• the overall vitality of the colony,
• possible nutritional or sanitary stress.

⇒ Very often, this step alone is sufficient and makes opening unnecessary.

Learn more:
► Observations at the hive entrance
► The fascinating secrets of debris analysis
► ApiService:  Entrance observation
► Real-time observations

Fundamental principle

No clear objective = no opening.

Each opening has a biological cost for the colony. Opening too frequently increases stress, disrupts the brood nest microclimate and unnecessarily mobilises internal resources for several dozen hours.

Good reasons to open

• Verify egg-laying
• Assess brood condition
• Check food reserves
• Add or remove a frame or a super
• Diagnose a suspected problem
• Carry out a planned operation (treatment, splitting, requeening)

Bad reasons

• “Just to see how things are going”
• “Because the weather is nice”
• “Because the hive hasn’t been opened for a long time”

Learn more:
► Ten tips for proper hive inspections
► Inspections: points of attention
► Installing and inspecting a beehive

Objective
Ensure an efficient, safe inspection without sanitary risk.

Minimum conditions

• Temperature ≥ 15 °C
• Dry weather, no wind
• Visible flight activity

Equipment

• Appropriate personal protective equipment
• Smoker with cool, moderate smoke
• Clean hive tool
• Bee brush
• Frame holder
• Notebook or monitoring app (Hive record sheet)

Biosecurity

The beekeeper is the main vector of disease transmission within an apiary.

• Inspect healthy colonies before doubtful ones
• Disinfect tools in case of sanitary suspicion
• Change gloves if necessary
• Never exchange frames without absolute sanitary certainty

Learn more:
► ApiService:  Hygiene
► Beekeeping equipment
► Hive record sheet
► Maintenance of beekeeping equipment

Objective
Limit stress and brood cooling.

Procedure

• Calm intervention, without vibrations
• Light smoking at the entrance (or occasionally water)
• Remove the roof and inner cover
• Very moderate smoke over the top of the frames
• Remove the divider or an outer frame to create space

⏱️ Target duration: 10 to 15 minutes maximum.

Smoke or water?

Smoke remains the standard tool to mask alarm pheromones.
In certain situations (calm colonies, very short inspections, high temperatures), a light water spray can be a less invasive occasional alternative: it induces grooming behaviour without strongly disrupting chemical communication.

This option should remain contextual, measured and consistent with the objective of the visit.

Learn more:
► Inspections: points of attention
► Beekeeping equipment

Objective
Assess vitality and the regularity of development.

Checkpoints

• Presence of eggs, larvae and capped brood
• Brood pattern (compact, uniform colour)
• Larval appearance (pearly, shiny, well segmented on the side, lying in royal jelly)
• Cappings (slightly domed (convex), light brown to ochre, intact, not perforated and not sunken)
• Neutral smell
• Presence of queen cells

Warning signs

• Very spotty brood (> 15% empty cells)
• Total absence of eggs
• Sunken or perforated cappings
• Discoloured or brownish larvae, poorly positioned, without visible segmentation or slimy, without royal jelly

Learn more:
► Brood volume
► From egg to imago
► Sacbrood

Key principle

You do not look for the queen; you look for proof of her presence by observing her egg-laying.

In the vast majority of cases, the presence of correctly laid eggs is a reliable indicator of a functional queen. Systematically searching for the queen is unnecessary during most inspections: it increases the risk of crushing her, prolongs the opening and often provides no additional information.

Caution when interpreting eggs

More rarely, particularly in laying worker colonies, eggs may also be observed. They are often multiple in the same cell and sometimes attached to the cell walls rather than to the bottom. This situation is usually accompanied by very irregular brood and predominantly drone brood, as well as an unusually high number of drones.

Presence of queen cells

In practice, the number and location of queen cells can provide additional information:

• The presence of several queen cells, often located at the edges or bottom of frames, is frequently associated with preparation for swarming, particularly during periods of strong colony dynamics.
• Conversely, the presence of one or very few isolated queen cells within the brood is more often observed during requeening, when a colony replaces an ageing or failing queen.

These elements must always be interpreted in combination with brood condition, season and overall colony behaviour, and never as isolated decision criteria.

Associated behaviours

Marked and persistent ventilation (buzzing) inside the hive or at the entrance can be observed in various situations. Most often, it corresponds to normal regulation of temperature, humidity or nectar. Only in combination with other abnormal signals (absence of brood, agitation, irregular egg-laying, increased drone presence) can it acquire diagnostic value.

Queen marking

Queen marking is not essential for diagnosis. However, in certain targeted contexts (monitoring, requeening, breeding, teaching), it can facilitate identification and help reduce opening time during specific inspections.

Learn more:
► 4.5.1 Finding the queen
► Swarming
► Laying worker colony
► Ten tips for proper hive inspections

Objective
Adapt hive volume to colony dynamics.

Indicators

• Number of occupied frames
• Bee density (one fully covered side of a Dadant brood frame corresponds to approx. 1,400 workers)
• Internal circulation

Possible decisions

• Add a super
• Add a frame with foundation
• Reduce space using a divider
• Split the colony

Learn more:
► Colony splitting
► Summer nuclei from honey supers
► Frame construction

Mentally divide the brood frame surface into 20 sections of 100 g.

Total per side = 2 kg
Total both sides = 4 kg

Objective
Prevent starvation, which can block egg-laying.

To observe

• Quantity of honey (see calculation under image)
• Presence of pollen and uncapped honey (sign of recent inflow) near the brood
• Accessibility of reserves

Possible actions

• Seasonally appropriate feeding
• Reorganisation of frames
• Add or remove honey frames (beware of foulbrood!)

Learn more:
► All about feeding
► Principles of feeding bees
► Food quantity is decisive

Objective
Early identification of sanitary problems.

Global approach to colony health

Accurate identification of bee diseases can be complex. In practice, it is often more relevant to start with a simpler and more robust question:

⇒ Is the colony globally healthy or not?

A healthy colony generally shows:

• regular and homogeneous brood,
• a sufficient and dynamic population,
• calm and coherent behaviour,
• accessible reserves,
• no obvious signs of stress or abnormal mortality.

When these criteria are met, there is no need to actively search for a specific pathology. However, in case of persistent doubt or unusual signs, it is recommended to seek advice from an experienced beekeeper or contact a bee inspector rather than interpreting uncertain symptoms alone.

Key points

• Varroosis cannot be diagnosed with the naked eye
• Regular, quantified monitoring is essential
• Visual indicators alone are insufficient

To monitor

• Varroa destructor
• Foulbroods (AFB / EFB)
• Mycoses
• Nosema
• Predators (Asian hornet)

In case of doubt, record observations and seek advice before acting or inform the inspector.

Learn more:
► Varroa destructor
► 2.1 American foulbrood
► Bee health guide

Objective
Allow the colony to quickly restore its balance.

Best practices

• Replace frames in the same order
• Check that the queen is not on the edges
• Close without crushing bees
• Clean tools after the inspection

Always record

• Date and weather
• Presence of eggs
• Brood condition
• Food reserves
• Actions taken

An undocumented inspection is, from a sanitary perspective, an incomplete inspection.

Learn more:
► Hive record sheet
► Apiary management: operating concept

1. Proper hive inspection does not mean frequent inspection.

Each opening can disrupt the colony for 24 to 48 hours.
It is therefore essential to limit interventions to moments of real usefulness.

⇒ As little as possible, and as much as necessary.

2. Two major structured inspections are ideal:

• in spring (end of wintering),
• in autumn (preparation for wintering).

⇒ The rest of the time, observe first at the hive entrance.

3. Open only when a clear objective justifies it.

This approach respects bee welfare, reduces sanitary risks and allows for more precise, more sustainable and more serene beekeeping.